UC-HRLF 


$B   30S   5T0 


IN  MEMOmAM 
Prof.   A, P.   Lange 


Education  Dept. 


http://www.archive.org/details/experimentsineduOOstarrich 


■I 


EXPERIMENTS   IN 
EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •    BOSTON  •   CHICAGO 
SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •   CAIXUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


EXPERIMENTS 

IN 

EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY 


BY 
DANIEL  STARCH,  Ph.D. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
191 1 


LB  105 


Copyright,  191  i. 

By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  clectrotypcd.     Published  September,  igii. 


^y/  fil      7^^    ff.    f^  Mlay 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  designed  to  serve  as  a  guide  for  laboratory 
experiments  in  educational  psychology.  Only  those  ex- 
periments have  been  selected  which  have  a  more  or  less 
direct  bearing  upon  educational  problems.  It  is  intended 
to  be  a  laboratory  manual  for  experimental  work  done 
parallel  with  an  introductory  course  in  educational  psy- 
chology, or  in  other  introductory  educational  courses  in 
which  the  psychological  aspect  is  emphasized. 

No  previous  training  in  experimental  work  is  necessary. 
The  directions  are  so  given  that  in  most  experiments 
relatively  simple  apparatus  is  used.  For  many  experi- 
ments the  material  is  contained  in  the  book,  for  others  it 
may  easily  be  constructed,  and  for  the  rest  it  must  be 
obtained  from  the  sources  indicated  in  each  case. 

In  pursuing  the  laboratory  work  the  order  of  the  chap- 
ters permits  of  considerable  flexibility.  All  chapters 
except  V  and  VI  are  independent  of  one  another  and  any 
desired  order  may  be  adopted.  The  work  is  intended  to 
occupy  two  hours  weekly  through  one  semester.  It  is 
best  to  divide  the  class  into  groups  of  not  more  than  eight 
or  ten,  in  charge  of  an  instructor  who  shall  see  that  the 
experiments  are  done  accurately  and  the  notes  written  up 
carefully. 


557888 


VI  PREFACE 

In  order  to  emphasize  the  practical  aspects  of  the  prin- 
ciples brought  out  in  the  various  experiments,  a  brief  set 
of  exercises  is  placed  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  which 
should  be  worked  out  and  handed  in  as  a  part  of  the 
laboratory  notes.  Additional  references  are  given  to 
excellent  practical  problems  which  may  best  be  assigned 
for  discussion  during  the  recitation  hour. 

I  wish  to  express  my  obligations  to  Professor  V.  A.  C. 
Henmon,  who  suggested  numerous  changes  in  the  manu- 
script, to  Dr.  B.  Q.  Morgan,  who  read  the  manuscript, 
and  to  Professor  W.  F.  Dearborn,  with  whose  cooperation 
several  experiments,  particularly  those  in  Chapters  V, 
VII,  and  VIII,  were  planned 

D.  S. 
University  of  Wisconsin, 
June,  1911. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Individual  Differences     i 

II.  Visual  Tests  and  Defects 13 

III.  Auditory  Tests  and  Defects 19 

IV.  Mental  Images 25 

V.  The  Trial  and  Error  Method  of  Learning  34 

VI.  The  Progress  of  Learning 41 

VII.  The  Progress  of  Learning  {Continued)  .    .  47 

VIII.  The  Transference  of  Training 71 

IX.  Association 86 

X.  Apperception      115 

XI.  Attention 133 

XII.  Memory 161 

XIII.  Work  and  Fatigue 172 


Vll 


EXPERIMENTS    IN 
EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

CHAPTER  I 

INDIVIDUAL   DIFFERENCES 

Problem.  The  experiments  in  this  chapter  are  intro- 
duced with  a  threefold  purpose:  first,  to  show  the  nature 
and  amounts  of  differences  in  mental  abihties  between  in- 
dividuals; second,  to  determine  to  what  extent  mental 
ability  in  one  direction  is  accompanied  by  ability  in  other 
directions;  and  third,  to  demonstrate  some  simple  and 
accurate  means  of  measuring  mental  functions.  In  order 
to  gain  scientific  insight  into  these  problems,  four  types 
of  mental  functions  or  abilities  will  be  selected  for  measure- 
ment, namely:  memory,  perception,  controlled  associa- 
tion, and  arithmetical  ability. 

Procedure,  i.  Memory,  a.  Auditory  Memory  Span. 
The  purpose  of  this  test  is  to  determine  the  largest  number 
of  unrelated  words  that  can  be  recalled  immediately  after 
one  hearing.  This  test  should  be  conducted  by  the  in- 
structor in  charge  and  performed  simultaneously  by  the  en- 


2  :;-fe5dfei|i[ENH.I?^-''5DUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

tire  class,  as  follows:  Be  prepared  with  pencil  and  paper. 
The  person  conducting  the  experiment  will  read  the  follow- 
ing groups  of  words  at  the  rate  of  one  word  per  second. 
Immediately  after  each  group  is  read,  write  in  correct 
order  all  the  words  remembered.  Then  the  next  group 
will  be  read,  and  so  on.  Do  not  read  the  test  words  given 
below  until  the  experiment  is  finished. 

Tree,  box,  chair,  ice. 

Floor,  book,  house,  pipe,  lake. 

Fence,  card,  pin,  lamp,  coal,  horse. 

Wood,  dog,  stone,  nest,  ink,  nail,  leaf. 

Wall,  fork,  glass,  board,  hat,  cup,  lead,  cat. 

Bench,  snow,  watch,  man,  rose,  heart,  gold,  king,  nose. 

Girl,  plant,  bread,  skate,  roof,  com,  boy,  door,  face,  key. 

Compare  your  results  with  the  lists  as  read  and  find  the 
largest  number  of  words  remembered  in  correct  order  from 
any  one  group.  This  is  your  memory  span  in  the  auditory 
field.  The  use  to  be  made  of  this  measurement  will  be 
pointed  out  below. 

b.  Memorizing.  Learn  the  following  stanza  by  reading 
it  through  entirely,  not  by  parts,  and  record  the  exact 
time  in  minutes  and  seconds.  Consider  it  memorized  as 
soon  as  you  can  repeat  it  without  consulting  the  text. 

A  wanderer  is  man  from  his  birth. 

He  was  bom  in  a  ship 

On  the  breast  of  the  river  of  Time; 

Brimming  with  wonder  and  joy, 

He  spreads  out  his  arms  to  the  light, 

Rivets  his  gaze  on  the  banks  of  the  stream. 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  3 

2.  Perception  of  letters  and  words. 

a.  The  E  Test.  Cross  out  with  a  short  horizontal  stroke 
all  the  Es  in  the  table  below.  Work  as  quickly  as  you  can 
without  omitting  any.    Record  the  time. 

FLESMRETHGAUDRETTE 
BENUTROFAERBSESOTDE 
MIALCXEREBTAFEELBAF 
ERIGEEEHRELWOBECITO 
NNEVEDESHDEWOLLEYET 
HEENYLERITNEREVETAH 
WTOPEEFOCESRUOCRETT 
EELATEMTESTAEELPOEP 
NETFOSEHISFDEKOYREV 
NEEBBDAEDYETTERPDET 
FLSEMDERAOREHTAFEMO 
CEBNEHWZEVGEZQXKED 

b.  The  e-r  Test.  Strike  out  with  a  horizontal  line  each 
word  that  contains  both  e  and  r  in  the  following  text. 
Record  the  time. 


4         EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Sed  quoniam,  patres  conscripti,  gloriae  munus  optimis 
et  fortissimis  civibus  monumenti  honore  persolvitur,  con- 
solemur  eorum  proximos,  quibus  optima  est  haec  quidem 
consolatio:  parentibus,  quod  tanta  rei  publicae  praesidia 
genuerunt;  liberis,  quod  habebunt  domestica  exempla 
virtutis;  coniugibus,  quod  iis  viris  carebunt  quos  laudare 
quam  lugere  praestabit;  fratribus,  quod  in  se  ut  corporum, 
sic  virtutis  similitudinem  esse  confident.  Atque  utinam 
his  omnibus  abstergere  fletum  sententiis  nostris  consultis- 
que  possemus,  vel  aliqua  talis  iis  adhiberi  publice  posset 
oratio  qua  deponerentmaerorem  atque  luctumgauderent — 
que  potius,  cum  multa  et  varia  impenderent  hominibus 
genera  mortis,  id  genus  quod  esset  pulcherrimum  suis 
obtigisse,  eosque  nee  inhumatos  esse  nee  desertos,  quod 
tamen  ipsimi  pro  patria  non  miserandum  putatur,  nee 
dispersis  bustis  himiili  sepultura  creatos,  sed  contectos 
publicis  operibus  atque  muneribus  eaque  exstructione 
quae  sit  ad  memoriam  aetemitatis  ara  virtutis. 

Quam  ob  rem  maximum  quidem  solacium  erit  propin- 
quorum  eodem  monumento  declarari  et  virtutem  suorum 
et  populi  Romani  pietatem  et  senatus  fidem  et  crudel- 
issimi  memoriam  belli,  in  quo  nisi  tanta  militum  virtus 
exstitisset,  parricidio  M.  Antoni  nomen  populi  Romani 
occidisset.  Atque  etiam  censeo,  patres  conscripti,  quae 
praemia  militibus  promisimus  nos  re  publica  recuperata 
tributuros,  ea  viris  victoribusque  amiulate,  cum  tempus 
venerit,  persolvenda;  qui  autem  ex  iis  quibus  ilia  promissa 
stmt  pro  patria  occiderunt,  eorum  parentibus,  liberis, 
coniugibus,  fratribus  eadem  tribuenda  censeo. 


INDIVIDUAL   DIFFERENCES  5 

3.  Controlled  Association,  a.  Opposites  Test.  Write  as 
quickly  as  possible  the  opposite  to  each  word  in  the 
following  list.    Record  the  time. 

Strong  Dark 

Deep  Rough 

Lazy  Pretty 

Seldom  High 

Thin  Foolish 

Soft  Present 

Many  Glad 

Valuable  Strange 

Late  Wrong 

Rude  Quickly 

b.  Genus-Species  Test.  Write  the  name  of  some  par- 
ticular object  for  each  of  the  class  names  in  the  following 
Hst,  as  for  example,  tree-oak.  Work  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  record  the  time. 


6        EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Book  State 


City 

Writer 

Scientist 

River 

Wood 

Flower 

Animal 

King 

Grain 


Poet 

Building 

U.  S.  president 

Fruit 

Battle 

Musician 

Lake 

Street 

Nation 


4.  Arithmetical  Ability,  a.  Addition.  Add  as  rapidly 
as  you  can  the  following  sets  of  numbers.  Record  the 
time. 


364 

692 

7S6 

637 

743 

479 

423 

945 

482 

274 

334 

498 

247 

926 

762 

652 

973 

958 

496 

968 

INDIVIDUAL   DIFFERENCES 


b.  Subtraction.    Perform  the  subtractions  indicated  in 
the  following  numbers.    Record  the  time. 


984 

724 

982 

768 

835 

845 

328 

476 

372 

657 

862 

987 

597 

984 

942 

465 

348 

435 

756 

453 

Results.  In  order  to  show  the  bearing  of  these  experi- 
ments upon  the  question  of  individual  differences,  it  is 
necessary  to  obtain  the  data  of  the  tests  from  each  mem- 
ber of  the  class  and  to  compare  them  with  one  another. 
Construct  a  table  to  show  the  name  and  records  of  each 
individual.    See  Table  I. 

Draw  a  curve  of  distribution  for  the  results  of  each  test 
showing  how  many  individuals  belong  to  each  grade  of 
ability.  For  example,  in  the  memory  span  test,  let  the 
abscissae  represent  the  different  numbers  of  words  re- 
called and  the  ordinates  the  number  of  persons  possessing 
these  different  spans.  See  the  curves  in  Figs,  i  and  2. 
In  the  other  tests,  the  intervals  of  time  should  be  graded 
by  thirty,  fifteen,  or  ten-second  steps.  Thus,  for  the 
£-test,  find  how  many  persons  finished  in  from  20-29 
seconds,  30-39  seconds,  etc.^ 

To  economize  time,  the  person  in  charge  should  construct  the 
table  on  the  board  in  cooperation  with  the  class,  each  person  in 
turn  reading  off  his  records.  If  the  class  is  small,  the  records  in 
Table  I  should  be  used  in  addition  to  the  ones  obtained. 


8         EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 
TABLE  I 


g" 

01 

g 

eg 

1 

i 

1 

1 

u 

4J 

0 

i-i 

a 
.2 

''V 

< 

1 

CO 

I 

9 

3'45" 

50" 

2'  20" 

I'  10" 

2' 

I'  5" 

50" 

2 

6 

3' 

50" 

2' 

2'  20" 

l'  10" 

45" 

35" 

3 

6 

2' 

45" 

3'  30" 

I'  45" 

I' 

I'  10" 

45" 

4  4 

7 

I'  50" 

45" 

I'  40" 

I'  5" 

I' 

I'  5" 

45" 

5 

6 

I'  30" 

I'  30" 

2'  15" 

I'  15" 

I'  15" 

I'  15" 

45" 

6 

5 

2' 

I'  30" 

3' 

3' 

I'  30" 

2' 

2' 

7 

7 

I' 

45" 

2'  30" 

I'  30" 

2' 

2'  30" 

3' 

8 

5 

2"  55" 

I' 

2'  4" 

I'  30'' 

l' 

I' 

40" 

9 

5 

4' 

30" 

i'  40" 

I'  30" 

I' 

I' 

40" 

lo 

7 

I'  30" 

35" 

3' 

I'  30" 

2' 

I'  15" 

40" 

II 

6 

i'  30" 

30" 

40" 

,/ 

30" 

i' 

I' 

12 

5 

3' 

58" 

I'  35" 

I'  15" 

I'  10" 

I'  15" 

45" 

13 

5 

2' 

45" 

I'  30" 

I'  15" 

I'  10" 

I'  15" 

45" 

H 

7 

2' 

i' 

3' 

I' 

I'  35" 

i' 

I'  30" 

15 

5 

2' 

I'  15" 

2'  45" 

I'  10" 

I'  30" 

I'  20" 

45" 

i6 

5 

2' 

I' 

3' 

I' 

I'  30" 

I' 

I'  30" 

17 

5 

3'  30" 

50" 

2' 

I'  15" 

I'  15" 

i'  10" 

40" 

i8 

5 

I'  30" 

30" 

i'  30" 

I'  20" 

I'  15" 

30" 

35" 

19 

7 

I'  20" 

30" 

i'  20" 

I'  27" 

I' 

I' 

37" 

20 

6 

4'  15" 

45" 

2'  35" 

I' 

1'  10" 

40" 

45" 

21 

5 

3' 

45" 

I'  30" 

I'  10" 

I' 

I' 

45" 

22 

6 

4'  12" 

45" 

2' 

I' 

I'  20" 

40" 

19" 

23 

6 

2' 

30" 

-/ 

i' 

55" 

35" 

24 

6 

2' 

50" 

I'  35" 

I'  30" 

I' 

I'  20" 

'50" 

25 

6 

3' 

45" 

I'  30" 

I'  10" 

I' 

35" 

45" 

26 

7 

2' 

30" 

2' 

45" 

45" 

50" 

40" 

27 

7 

2' 

50" 

2' 

^/ 

I' 

30" 

45" 

28 

6 

4' 

i'  30" 

i'  20" 

I'  20" 

I'  10" 

i' 

50" 

29 

6 

I'  30" 

50" 

4' 

3'  10" 

I' 

40" 

30" 

30 

7 

2'  20" 

50" 

4'  10" 

I'  30" 

I'  25" 

2'  30" 

I'  50" 

31 

7 

I'  30" 

45" 

3' 

I'  50" 

I'  10" 

I' 

30" 

32 

6 

I'  30" 

50" 

2'  20"|  1'  50" 

I'  10" 

I'  10" 

I' 

33 

5 

2' 

45" 

I'  30" 

1  I'  35" 

I'  25" 

I'  22" 

i' 

INDIVIDUAL   DIFFERENCES 

TABLE   I    (Continued) 


60 

g 

ll 

.a 

1 

1 

1^ 

1 

03  <U 

i 

1 

34 

7 

I'  10" 

■20" 

I'  40" 

I' 

52" 

24" 

20" 

35 

5 

3'  15" 

45" 

2'  30" 

I'  8" 

48" 

39" 

27" 

36 

7 

I' 45" 

48" 

3'  21" 

55" 

31" 

I'  52" 

2'  26" 

37 

6 

3' 

1' 

2'  38" 

I'  25" 

I'  20" 

I'  20" 

38" 

38 

5 

2'  30" 

35" 

2' 

J,  5- 

I'  15" 

i' 

I' 

39 

5 

I'  28" 

43" 

4'  52" 

4'  20" 

I'  36" 

i'  16" 

45" 

40 

6 

I'  30" 

40" 

2'  15" 

I'  15" 

I'  20" 

30" 

25" 

41 

6 

3' 

30" 

3'  10" 

2'  15" 

l'  30" 

I' 

30" 

42 

7 

I'  35" 

54" 

4'  4" 

i'  20" 

I'  16" 

I'  4" 

48" 

43 

7 

4' 

I'  15" 

3'  30" 

4' 

I'  30" 

46" 

45" 

44 

6 

3' 

30" 

I'  53" 

I'  20" 

I'  18" 

I'  10" 

55" 

45 

5 

i'  40" 

58" 

I'  20" 

I'  22" 

l'  15" 

I'  15" 

i'  2" 

46 

5 

4' 

I' 

2' 

I'  50" 

I'  30" 

I'  30" 

58" 

47 

5 

2' 

30" 

4'  30" 

I'  20" 

I'  25" 

i'  18" 

46" 

48 

6 

I'  10" 

55" 

I'  10" 

i'  40" 

I'  55" 

I'  20" 

48" 

Fig.  I. — Memorizing. 


lO      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Discuss  the  following  questions: 

I.  To  which  grade  of  ability  do  the  majority  of  indi- 


I  t 


Fig.  2.— E  Test. 


viduals   in    these    tests    belong,   superior,   medium,   or 
inferior? 

2.  If  you  divide  the  entire  range  of  abilities  into  three 
equal  parts,  what  proportion  of  individuals  belong  to  each 
part?  For  example,  what  percentage  of  persons  have  a 
memory  span  of  from  four  to  five,  six  to  seven,  eight  to 
nine?  In  this  manner  make  a  composite  table  of  all  the 
tests  to  show  the  percentage  of  persons  in  each  third. 

3.  On  the  basis  of  these  distribution  curves,  would  it 
be  fair  to  divide  a  group  of  persons  into,  for  example, 
two  distinct  groups,  bright  and  dull?    Why? 

4.  How  much  better  are  the  superior  individuals  than 
the  inferior  ones?    For  example,  in  the  E  test  in  Table  I, 


INDIVIDUAL   DIFFERENCES  II 

the  best  record  is  20  seconds,  while  the  lowest  is  i  minute, 
30  seconds.  That  is,  the  best  one  is  four  and  one-half 
times  as  fast  as  the  slowest  one.  Construct  a  table  to 
show  this  comparison  for  all  the  tests. 

5.  What  application  has  the  curve  of  distribution  to  the 
assignment  of  grades  in  school  studies? 

The  following  are  the  grades  of  a  class  in  psychology: 
86,  80,  86,  83,  78,  80,  88,  85,  82,  83,  86,  88,  84,  84,  88,  83, 
86,  88,  86,  83,  90,  86,  86,  86,  84,  80,  86,  80,  82,  78,  82,  88, 
86,  80,  86,  84,  93,  86,  68,  85,  84,  86,  84,  90,  88,  88,  86,  80, 
86,  93,  82,  88,  86,  90,  82,  78,  97,  75,  73,  78,  86,  86,  82,  86, 
88,  78,  80,  86,  82,  90,  70,  80,  90,  84,  82,  76,  86,  78,  84,  84, 
88,  83,  70,  86,  84,  82,  90,  82,  88,  78,  88,  90,  86,  86,  93,  78, 
86,  86,  90,  75,  86,  84,  76,  84,  76,  84,  75,  84,  86,  70,  90,  95, 
90,  84,  80,  93,  70,  82,  80,  84,  83,  86,  83,  86,  86,  86,  84,  84, 
82,  86,  83. 

Construct  a  distribution  curve.  Should  this  curve  be 
similar  in  form  to  the  curves  obtained  from  the  experi- 
ments? Why?  What  criticism  of  these  grades  can  you 
suggest? 

6.  One  of  the  most  significant  facts  of  individual  differ- 
ences is  that  persons  ranking  high  in  one  ability  are  as  a 
rule  not  equally  superior  in  other  abilities.  A  bright  pupil 
in  history  may  not  be  much  above  the  average  in  arith- 
metic, and  vice  versa. 

In  order  to  demonstrate  in  a  rough  way  to  what  extent 
such  relations  or  lack  of  relations  between  mental  func- 
tions exist,  draw  a  circle  around  each  of  the  five  best 
records  made  in  each  of  the  eight  tests.     How  many 


12       EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

persons,  if  any,  come  within  the  first  five  in  all  the  tests? 
If  a  person's  abilities  are  equally  superior,  or  nearly  so, 
in  all  the  functions  tested,  all  his  records  should  be  found 
among  the  first  five. 

Indicate  the  five  poorest  records  in  each  test  by  squares. 
Are  the  persons  who  make  the  poorest  records  in  memor- 
izing the  same  as  those  who  make  the  poorest  in  the  other 
tests?  How  many  are  the  same?  Similarly,  compare  the 
memory  span  with  the  memorizing  test,  and  likewise  the 
other  pairs  of  tests.^ 

For  further  practical  exercises  and  applications  to 
school  work  see  Thomdike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  pp. 
98-104. 

*  The  accurate  way  of  representing  relations  between  mental 
capacities  is  by  means  of  the  coefficient  of  correlation.  See  Thorn- 
dike,  Educational  Psychology,  First  Edition,  p.  26. 


CHAPTER  II 
VISUAL   TESTS    AND    DEFECTS 

The  eye  is  the  most  important  avenue  of  information. 
The  need  of  care  in  preventing  abuse  and  in  correcting 
defects  is  patent  to  everyone.  Every  teacher  should  know 
something  of  the  common  types  of  visual  defects,  and  how 
to  detect  them. 

I.  Far-  and  Near-Sightedness.  In  order  to  see  an 
object  distinctly  the  rays  of  Hght  from  that  object  must 
come  to  a  sharp  focus  upon  the  retina.  If  not,  the  object 
appears  blurred. 

a.  The  Function  of  Accommodation.  Accommodation 
is  the  change  in  the  shape  of  the  crystalHne  lens  in  order 
to  focus  the  image  upon  the  retina.  For  a  distant  point 
the  lens  flattens  and  for  a  near  point  it  bulges. 

Set  the  end  of  a  niler  against  the  cheek  below  the  right 
eye  so  that  it  points  in  the  direction  of  sight.  Close  the 
left  eye.  Hold  a  pin  (point  upward)  at  a  distance  of 
about  thirty  centimetres  so  that  the  point  can  be  seen 
distinctly.  Then  gradually  slide  it  along  the  edge  of  the 
ruler  toward  the  eye  tmtil  it  comes  to  the  place  where  the 
point  begins  to  blur.  Slide  it  outward  until  the  point 
again  appears  distinct.    This  is  the  near  point  of  vision. 


13 


14      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Measure  and  record  the  distance  from  the  eye.  Make 
five  measurements  for  the  right  and  five  for  the  left  eye. 
For  the  normal  eye,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  this  distance 
is  about  twelve  to  fifteen  centimetres.  For  the  near- 
sighted eye  it  is  less,  and  for  the  far-sighted  eye  it  is 
more. 

Hold  the  pin  at  the  distance  just  determined  and  set 
a  page  of  print  about  twenty  centimetres  beyond  the  pin. 
Notice  that  as  you  focus  on  the  pin  the  print  appears 
blurred.  As  you  focus  on  the  print  the  pin  appears 
blurred.  Notice  also  the  feeling  of  efiiort  or  strain  in  the 
eye  as  you  shift  from  the  print  to  the  pin. 

In  myopia,  or  near-sightedness,  the  eyeball  usually  is 
too  long.  The  image  is  formed  at  a  point  in  front  of  the 
retina.  In  hyperopia,  or  far-sightedness,  the  eyeball  is 
ordinarily  too  short  and  the  image  would  be  formed  at  a 
point  back  of  the  retina.  In  the  latter  case  it  requires 
constant  strain  of  the  ciliary  muscles  to  see  near  objects 
distinctly. 

Defects  of  accommodation  are  accentuated  in  large  part 
by  the  effort  and  strain  in  the  ciliary  muscles  which  con- 
trol the  lenses  when  looking  at  objects  near  by,  as,  for 
example,  in  reading.  They  may  also  be  due  to  loss  of 
elasticity  in  the  lens  or  lack  of  responsiveness  in  the  ciliary 
muscles.  When  the  eyes  are  at  rest  they  are  focussed  for 
distant  points.  Demonstrate  this  by  closing  your  eyes 
for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  opening  them.  Notice  that 
they  are  adjusted  for  distant  objects  and  that  it  requires 
special  effort  to  focus  them  upon  the  page  in  front  of  you. 


VISUAL   TESTS   AND   DEFECTS  1$ 

b.  Snellen's  Test}  Hang  the  chart  on  the  wall  in  good 
light,  but  not  in  direct  sunlight.  Be  seated  directly  in 
front  of  it  at  a  distance  of  twenty  feet.  Test  each  eye 
separately.  Hold  a  card  in  front  of  one  eye  while  the  other 
eye  is  being  examined.  Do  not  press  against  the  eyeball. 
Begin  at  the  top  of  the  chart  and  read  aloud  down  as  far 
as  you  can.  The  experimenter  stands  near  the  chart 
and  takes  note  of  the  errors.  Record  the  results  of  each 
eye  separately  in  terms  of  a  fraction  in  which  the  num- 
erator is  twenty  and  the  denominator  is  the  number  at 
the  right  of  the  last  line  read  correctly.  Thus,  if  the 
fraction  is  lo,  it  means  that  the  last  line  read  correctly 
is  the  one  marked  twenty  feet,  the  distance  at  which  the 
normal  eye  should  be  able  to  read  it.  If  the  fraction  is 
M,  or  less,  the  eye  is  probably  near-sighted.  If  the  lo 
or  15  feet  lines  can  be  read  the  eye  is  probably  far-sighted. 
In  either  case,  it  should  receive  the  attention  of  a  phy- 
sician. 

It  is  well  to  use  several  different  vision  charts  so  that 
the  letters  may  not  be  memorized.  If  only  one  chart  is 
at  hand  the  results  should  be  verified  by  covering  with  two 
cards  all  the  letters  in  a  given  line,  except  the  one  to  be 
read.    Expose  the  letters  in  irregular  order. 

2.  Astigmatism.  Use  the  chart  which  has  the  radiating 
lines.  These  are  numbered  like  the  figures  on  a  clock. 
Hang  the  chart  in  good  light  and  sit  at  a  distance  of  twenty 

*  Snellen's  Vision  Charts,  Cogan's  Prism  Chart,  and  Holmgren's 
worsteds  can  be  obtained  from  F.  A.  Hardy  &  Co.,  131  Wabash 
Ave.,  Chicago. 


1 6      EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

feet.  Cover  one  eye  with  a  card,  while  the  other  eye  is 
being  tested.  Look  at  the  chart  and  notice  whether  any 
of  the  radii  appear  darker.  Record  these  by  their  num- 
bers. To  the  normal  eye  the  radii  should  appear  equally 
distinct.  If  they  appear  considerably  different  the  eye  is 
astigmatic. 

3.  Strabismus,  or  Heterophoria.  This  includes  all  those 
defects  which  are  due  to  the  lack  of  proper  coordination 
of  the  two  eyeballs  so  that  the  two  eyes  do  not  converge 
simultaneously  upon  the  same  point.  This  condition  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  external  muscles  of  the  eyes  are 
not  properly  coimterbalanced.  The  extreme  form  is 
commonly  called  cross-eyes.  There  are,  however,  many 
slight  degrees  of  strabismus  which  can  scarcely  be  noticed 
and  yet  have  a  very  detrimental  effect  upon  vision.  The 
unbalanced  eye  receives  a  distorted  image  and  the  bur- 
den of  sight  falls  upon  the  other  eye.  Demonstrate  this 
by  looking  at  some  object,  say  a  book,  and  pressing  your 
finger  against  the  lower  side  of  one  eyeball.  Notice  the 
distortion  of  vision. 

To  detect  the  presence  of  strabismus,  make  the  follow- 
ing test:  Hang  the  Cogan  Prism  chart  about  six  inches 
away  from  the  wall.  Place  a  lighted  candle  or  lamp  just 
back  of  the  small  opening  at  the  centre  of  the  chart. 
Take  a  position  twenty  feet  from  the  chart  so  that  the 
eyes  are  on  a  level  with  the  aperture.  The  light  must  be 
seen  directly  through  the  opening. 

Close  one  eye  and  hold  the  red  glass  close  before  the 
other  eye,  so  that  the  red  image  can  be  seen.    Then  look 


VISUAL    TESTS    AND   DEFECTS  17 

uith  both  eyes  at  the  flame  and  notice  the  location  of  the 
red  image.  Does  it  coincide  with  the  yellow  flame?  If 
not,  record  its  position  in  terms  of  the  circles  and  radii  of 
the  chart.  Shift  the  glass  to  the  other  eye  and  again 
record  the  position  of  the  red  image.  If  the  eyes  are  in 
perfect  balance  the  two  images  should  coincide.  If  not, 
the  degree  and  nature  of  the  deviation  will  be  indicated  by 
the  distance  and  direction  of  the  red  image  from  the 
yellow  flame. 

4.  Color-blindness.  Take  the  three  standard  colors, 
labelled  A,  B,  and  C,  of  Holmgren's  worsteds  and  place 
them  on  the  table  a  foot  or  more  apart.  Select  from  the 
other  worsteds  all  those  which  are  like  or  similar  to  each 
of  the  three  standards.  Arrange  the  colors  in  each  group 
in  the  order  of  their  brightness.  Do  this  as  quickly  as 
you  can.  Record  the  time  required  and  the  order  of  the 
worsteds  by  writing  down  their  nxmibers  in  the  order  in 
which  you  arranged  them. 

Defective  color  vision  will  be  indicated  by  the  long  time 
required  to  arrange  the  worsteds  and  by  the  confusion 
of  the  colors.  The  grouping  of  the  worsteds  is  correct  if 
they  are  arranged  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  num- 
bered. Red-green  blindness,  the  most  common  form, 
will  be  revealed  by  the  confusion  of  the  red  and  the  green 
yams. 

Discuss  the  following  questions: 

1.  What  use  may  a  teacher  make  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  visual  defects  of  individual  pupils? 

2.  How  may  she  assist  such  pupils? 


l8      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

3.  How  would  color-blindness  be  a  drawback  in  school 
work? 

For  further  practical  exercises  see  Thomdike,  Princi- 
ples of  Teaching,  17-20.  O'Shea,  Dynamic  Factors  in 
Education,  Ch.  17. 


CHAPTER  III 
AUDITORY   TESTS   AND    DEFECTS 

The  school  is  concerned  with  two  auditory  problems, 
acuity  of  hearing  and  discrimination  of  pitch.  The  former 
is  of  interest  to  every  teacher,  the  latter  is  of  importance 
primarily  to  the  teacher  of  music. 

I.  Acuity  of  Hearing.  The  problem  is  to  determine 
whether  an  individual's  hearing  is  normal  or  whether 
there  is  any  degree  of  deafness  present  in  either  or 
both  ears.    Several  forms  of  tests  will  be  used. 

a.  The  Watch  Test.  Perform  the  experiment  in  a  quiet 
room.  The  subject  is  seated  on  a  chair.  Fasten  the  zero 
end  of  a  tape  measure  to  the  back  of  the  chair  just  behind 
the  ear  to  be  tested.  The  other  ear  should  be  closed  with 
cotton.  Hold  the  watch  so  that  it  can  be  heard  readily. 
Then  gradually  move  it  outward  along  the  aural  axis 
(the  line  passing  through  the  two  ears)  until  it  can  no 
longer  be  heard.  Hold  the  tape  with  the  other  hand  and 
measure  the  distance  of  the  watch  from  the  ear.  Then 
begin  from  a  position  where  it  can  not  be  heard  and  move 
it  toward  the  ear.  As  soon  as  it  can  be  heard,  stop  and 
measure  the  distance.    Always  hold  the  watch  in  the  same 

19 


20      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

way  with  the  same  side  toward  the  ear.  Move  it  at  the 
rate  of  about  one  inch  per  second.  Make  five  in"  and 
five  "out"  measurements  for  each  ear  in  the  double  fatigue 
order,  that  is,  three  on  the  first  ear,  five  on  the  second, 
and  two  more  on  the  first.  Average  the  results  for  each 
ear  separately. 

The  advantages  of  this  test  are  that  it  is  simple,  con- 
venient, and  sufficiently  accurate  for  crude  measurements. 
Its  disadvantages  are  that  watches  differ  and  that  the 
sound  is  rhythmic,  which  is  apt  to  deceive  the  listener 
into  hearing  the  ticking  when  he  actually  does  not.  In 
order  to  make  the  records  of  different  persons  compara- 
ble, the  same  watch  should  be  used.^ 

b.  Seashore^ s  Audiometer.  This  is  an  accurate,  con- 
venient instrument,  and  on  the  whole  the  best  for  measur- 
ing acuity  of  hearing.^ 

Adjust  the  strength  of  the  electric  current  by  means  of 
the  resistance  plugs  and  the  galvanometer  until  the  needle 
of  the  latter  rests  on  the  central  cross  bar.  Connect  the 
receiver  with  the  audiometer  and  mount  it  on  a  tripod 
in  another  room.    The  subject  is  seated  so  that  the  ear 

*The  Politzer  acoumeter  may  be  used  in  exactly  the  same 
manner  as  the  watch.  The  sound  in  this  instrument  is  produced  by 
a  small  metallic  hammer.  It  is  superior  to  the  watch  in  that  the 
stimuli  are  uniform  and  can  be  produced  at  will. 

'  A  description  of  this  apparatus  may  be  found  in  the  Univ.  of 
Iowa  Studies  in  Psych.,  1898,  II.,  158-163.  It  consists  essentially 
of  a  series  of  induction  coils  by  which  the  stimulus  can  be  varied 
from  very  weak  to  moderately  strong  intensities.  The  instrument 
can  be  obtained  from  C.  H.  Stoelting  Co.,  121  N.  Green  St.,  Chi- 
cago. 


AUDITORY   TESTS   AND    DEFECTS  21 

can  be  held  as  close  as  possible  to  the  receiver  without 
touching  it.  A  key  and  telegraph  sounder  should  be 
set  up,  the  former  being  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  subject 
and  the  latter  in  the  room  with  the  audiometer.  The 
subject  responds  on  this  key  whenever  he  hears  the  stim- 
ulus from  the  receiver. 

The  sliding  key  on  the  audiometer  is  for  the  purpose 
of  changing  the  intensity  of  the  stimulus.  To  make  the 
measurements,  begin  with  a  sound  which  can  easily  be 
heard.  Diminish  the  intensity  of  the  stimulus  step  by 
step  until  the  subject  no  longer  responds.  Give  the  stimuli 
at  irregular  intervals  of  from  three  to  six  seconds,  so  that 
the  subject  may  not  tend  to  respond  rhythmically. 
Record  the  last  sound  heard.  Begin  several  units  below 
this  point  and  increase  the  intensity  of  the  stimuli  until 
the  subject  again  responds.  Record  the  first  one  heard. 
In  this  manner  make  five  measurements  on  each  ear  in 
the  double  fatigue  order.  Average  the  results.  Compare 
them  with  the  watch  test.  Is  the  acuity  of  the  two  ears 
the  same? 

c.  The  Whisper  Test.  This  test  may  be  omitted,  but  it 
is  introduced  here  because  it  is  often  a  serviceable  method 
in  the  school-room.  The  pupil  is  stationed  at  a  distance 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from  the  examiner  with  one  ear 
toward  him.  Then  a  series  of  twenty-five  words,  prefer- 
ably numbers,  are  spoken  in  a  whispered  voice.  After 
each  word  the  child  writes  down  what  he  heard.  Ten  or 
twelve  pupils  may  easily  be  tested  at  one  time.  Then 
the  pupil  tiuns  so  that  the  other  ear  is  toward  the  exam- 


22      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

iner  and  the  test  is  repeated.  After  the  test,  the  pupil's 
list  is  compared  with  the  examiner's  list,  and  the  per- 
centage of  errors  determined.  It  requires  some  practice 
on  the  part  of  the  examiner  to  whisper  the  words  fairly 
uniformly.  The  results  are  entirely  relative,  and  different 
pupils  must  be  compared  with  one  another.  The  pupil 
who  has  considerably  more  than  the  average  percentage 
of  errors  should  receive  medical  attention.  The  one  great 
advantage  of  the  whisper  experiment  is  that  it  tests 
hearing  of  conversational  speech,  which  is  not  the  case 
when  mechanical  stimuli  are  used. 

2.  Discrimination  of  Pitch.  One  of  the  essentials  for 
musical  training  is  the  capacity  to  make  fine  discrimina- 
tions of  pitch.  A  convenient  and  accurate  method  of 
testing  musical  discrimination  is  afforded  by  a  series  of 
eleven  graded  tuning-forks  ^  which  range  in  pitch  from 
435  vibrations  (the  standard)  to  465  vibrations.  The 
forks  between  these  limits  are  graded  in  the  following 
order,  each  being  so  many  vibrations  higher  than  the 
standard:   ^,  i,  2,  3,  5,  8,  11,  17,  23,  30. 

Moimt  a  speaking-tube  so  that  the  subject  may  hold 
one  end  of  it  to  his  ear.     The  experimenter  holds  the 

^  This  series  can  be  prepared  from  a  set  of  A  forks  whose  prongs 
are  approximately  three  and  a  half  inches  long.  They  can  be  ob- 
tained through  any  music  dealer.  One  of  the  forks  is  selected  as 
standard  and  the  others  are  tuned  according  to  the  required  interval 
above  the  standard  by  filing  the  ends  of  the  prongs  until  they  have 
the  desired  pitch.  They  can  be  tuned  accurately  by  comparing  each 
fork  with  the  standard  and  with  one  another  and  counting  the  beats. 
This  method  of  testing  was  first  devised  by  Seashore.  See  Univ.  of 
Iowa  Studies  in  Psych.,  II.,  55-64. 


AUDITORY    TESTS    AND   DEFECTS  2$ 

vibrating  forks  at  the  other  end  of  the  tube.  If  no  speak- 
ing tube  is  at  hand,  the  forks  may  be  held  close  to  the  ear. 
Or,  better,  roll  a  sheet  of  paper  to  make  a  tube  an  inch 
in  diameter  and  hold  that  to  the  ear.  The  stimuli  can 
thus  be  given  more  uniformly  than  by  holding  the  forks 
to  the  ear. 

The  experimenter  strikes  the  standard  and  the  highest 
fork  and  holds  them  in  rapid  succession  before  the  tube. 
They  should  be  struck  as  uniformly  as  possible  and  held  to 
the  tube  not  longer  than  two  or  three  seconds,  with  as 
short  an  interval  between  the  two  forks  to  be  compared 
as  possible.  The  subject  indicates  whether  the  second  is 
higher  or  lower  than  the  first.  If  the  answer  is  correct  the 
standard  and  the  twenty-three  fork  are  compared  in  the 
same  manner.  If  that  judgment  is  correct,  the  standard 
and  the  seventeen  fork  are  taken,  and  so  on  imtil  the 
subject  makes  a  mistake.  Then,  with  these  two  forks, 
make  twenty  trials  and  record  each  judgment  as  right  or 
wrong.  If  less  than  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  answers  are 
correct,  make  twenty  trials  with  the  standard  and  the 
fork  next  above  the  one  just  used.  If  more  than  eighty 
per  cent,  are  correct,  make  twenty  trials  with  the  standard 
and  the  fork  next  below  the  one  used.  The  two  forks 
with  which  approximately  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the 
answers  are  correct  may  then  be  regarded  as  the  measure 
of  the  threshold  of  pitch  discrimination.  An  average  is 
difficult  to  give  because  individuals  differ  greatly  in  this 
respect.  For  university  students  the  average  is  between 
five  and  eight  vibrations. 


24      EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

Discuss  the  following  questions: 

1.  In  what  v/ays  may  the  teacher  assist  a  deaf  pupil? 
A  pupil  deaf  in  one  ear  only  ? 

2.  What  changes  would  you  suggest  to  be  made  in  the 
musical  instruction  of  a  pupil  who  has  poor  discrimina- 
tion of  pitch?  ^ 

*Cf.  Seashoioe,  Educational  Review,  Vol.  22,  p.  75. 


CHAPTER  IV 
MENTAL    IMAGES 

The  problem  is  to  determine  the  relative  predomi- 
nance of  the  different  types  of  mental  images.^ 

I.  The  Frequency  of  Different  Classes  of  Mental 
Images.  Determine  this  by  the  association  method  in  the 
following  manner.  The  material  to  be  used  consists  of 
the  colimms  of  words  printed  below.  Cover  with  a  piece 
of  paper  all  the  words  except  the  first  column.  With 
another  piece  of  paper  cover  this  column  also.  Slide  it 
down  far  enough  to  expose  the  first  word.  Then  in  a 
short  sentence  write  in  your  notebook  an  answer  to  this 
question,  "  What  do  you  think  of  as  soon  as  you  see  that 
word?"  For  example,  if  the  word  is  "  grass,"  it  might 
suggest  at  once  imagery  of  this  kind,  "  I  think  at  once  of 
the  green  appearance  of  a  meadow."  Or,  if  the  word  is 
*'  shoe,"  it  might  suggest  such  an  answer  as  this,  "  I 
think  of  the  pinching  of  my  new  shoe."  Do  not  try  to 
make  a  selection,  but  write  down  whatever  comes  to  your 
mind  first.     Write  your  answer  quickly  and  proceed  to 

^  The  student  should  be  familiar  with  the  meaning  and  nature  of 
mental  images.  Some  standard  text  on  psychology  may  be  consulted, 
e.  g.  James,  Psychology,  Chap.  19;  or  Angell,  Psychology,  Chap.  8. 

25 


26      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

the  next  word  by  sliding  the  paper  down  to  expose  it. 
Answer  the  same  question  with  regard  to  this  word. 
Similarly,  work  through  the  entire  list  of  words.  Num- 
ber your  answers.  Keep  all  the  colimins  covered  except 
the  one  you  are  using.  The  purpose  of  this  is  to  avoid 
as  far  as  possible  the  associations  with  other  words  except 
the  one  before  you. 


I 

II 

III 

IV 

Nouns 

Verbs 

Notms 

Verbs 

I.  bell 

I.  whistle 

I,  iron 

I.  couch 

2.  piano 

2.  sing 

2.  stove 

2.  walk 

3.  railroad 

3.  knock 

3.  knife 

3.  bum 

4.  music 

4.  cry 

4.  cap 

4.  run 

5.  storm 

5.  laugh 

5.  needle 

5.  sting 

6.  clock 

6.  hiss 

6.  snow 

6.  write 

7.  hammer 

7.  rattle 

7.  soap 

7.  bite 

8.  drum 

8.  bark 

8.  brush 

8.  pull 

9.  wagon 

9.  march 

9.  wool 

9.  lift 

10.  dog 

10.  whisper 

10.  apple 

10.  fall 

Put  the  results  in  the  form  of  a  table  showing  how  many 
of  the  forty  words  aroused  visual  images,  auditory,  motor, 
tactile,  etc.  In  the  illustrations  given  above,  "  grass  " 
brought  out  visual  images,  "  shoe  "  at  once  suggested 
tactile  images,  etc.  Calculate  the  percentage  of  each 
class.^ 

*  Pfeiffer,  L.,  Ueber  Vorstellungstypen,  Padagogische  Monograph- 
ien,  1907,  Leipzig. 


MENTAL   IMAGES  2^ 
TABLE    II 

FREQUENCY    OF    THE    DIFFERENT   CLASSES  OF    IMAGES    OF 
TWENTY-SIX    PERSONS 

Visual           Auditory          Motor  Tactile      Miscellaneous 

1 25  9  6 

2 37  2  I 

3 18               10                 7  5 

4 26                 8                 4  I 

5 25                 9                 3  I 

6 15                12                  4  9 

7 16                13                 6  5 

8 19                14                 5  2 

9 19                 9                  7  I 

10 24  7  6 

II 15                13                 2  10 

12 36  4 

13 15               10                 5  10 

14 20                10                  8  2 

15 28                 9                 2  I 

16 31                  6                  I  I                  I 

17 .16                 8                  7  3                  6 

18 15                  8                  8  8                  I 

19 16                ID                10  4 

20 19                 5                ID  5 

21 15                10                 8  6                  I 

22 23                II                  I  5 

23 12                II                II  6 

24 16                10                10  4 

25 12                12                  9  5                 2 

26 17                II                  8  3                  I 

Averages. .        20.4              9-3               5-8  3-8                 -7 

Percentages      51.               23.3             14.5  9.5                1.7 

2.  The  Vividness  of  Mental  Images.     This  is  to  be 

determined  by  an  introspective  questionnaire.     Use  the 

following  list  of  questions.^ 

*  From  Seashore,  Elementary  Experiments  in  Psychology,  106- 

III,  by  permission  of  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  and  the  author. 


28      EXPERIMENTS    IN   EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

"  This  is  a  distinct  exercise  in  introspection.  It  is  best 
to  keep  the  eyes  closed  as  you  introspect.  If  the  observer 
does  not  have  strong  imagery  he  may  be  lost  in  the  effort 
to  create  an  image  out  of  the  retinal  light.  To  avoid  this, 
it  is  best  to  think  of  the  object  as  in  a  distant  place;  for 
example,  the  rose  on  the  bush. 

"  Sometimes  the  image  comes  in  the  most  reaHstic  way 
when  it  comes  without  effort  as  a  sort  of  a  reverie  image 
which  passes  the  mental  horizon.  As  a  rule,  it  is  best  not 
to  direct  the  attention  primarily  to  the  detail  of  the  image, 
but  rather  to  the  effort  to  recall  the  fact;  when  the  fact 
comes  into  consciousness  the  character  of  the  image  may 
be  observed. 

"  Fix  clearly  in  mind  and  use  as  consistently  as  possible 
the  following  scale  of  degrees  of  vividness: 

0.  No  image  at  all. 

1.  Very  faint. 

2.  Faint. 

3.  Fairly  vivid. 

4.  Vivid. 

5.  Very  vivid. 

6.  As  vivid  as  in  perception. 

"  Answer  the  following  questions  by  writing  after  the 
number  of  the  question  the  number  which  denotes  the 
degree  of  vividness  characteristic  of  your  image.  Instead 
of  taking  the  questions  in  the  order  given,  follow  the  order: 
I-i,  II-i,  III-i,  IV-i,  V-i,  VI-i,  VII-i,  VIII-i,  1-2,  II-2, 
III-2,  IV-2,  etc.,  I-3,  II-3,  III-3,  IV-3,  etc.    Introspective 


MENTAL   IMAGES  29 

notes  to  supplement  the  niimerical  answers  are  very- 
desirable. 

1.  Visual. — I.  Can  you  image  the  color  of — (a)  A  red 
rose?  (b)  A  green  leaf?  (c)  A  yellow  ribbon?  (d)  A 
blue  sky? 

2.  Can  you  image  the  brightness  of — (a)  A  white  tea- 
cup? (b)  A  black  crow?  (c)  A  gray  stone?  (d)  The 
blade  of  a  knife? 

3.  Can  you  image  the  form  of — (a)  The  rose?  (b)  The 
leaf?    (c)  The  teacup?  (d)  The  knife? 

4.  Can  you  form  a  visual  image  of — (a)  A  moving  ex- 
press train?  (b)  Your  sharpening  of  a  pencil?  (c)  An 
up-and-down  movement  of  yotu*  tongue? 

5.  Can  you  image  simultaneously — (a)  A  group  of  col- 
ors in  a  bunch  of  sweet  peas?  (b)  Colors,  forms,  bright- 
nesses, and  movements  in  a  lansdcape  view? 

6.  Can  you  compare  in  a  visual  image — (a)  The  color 
of  cream  and  the  color  of  milk?  (b)  The  tint  of  one  of 
your  finger-nails  with  that  of  the  palm  of  your  hand? 

7.  Can  you  hold  fairly  constant  for  ten  seconds — (a) 
The  color  of  the  rose?    (b)  The  form  of  the  rose? 

II.  Auditory. — i.  Can  you  image  the  sound  of — (a) 
The  report  of  a  gun?  (b)  The  clinking  of  glasses?  (c) 
The  ringing  of  church  bells?    (d)  The  hum  of  bees? 

2.  Can  you  image  the  characteristic  tone  quality  of — 
(a)  A  violin?    (b)  A  cello?    (c)  A  flute?    (d)  A  comet? 

3.  Can  you  repeat  in  auditory  imagery  the  air  of — (a) 
Yankee  Doodle?    (b)  America? 

4.  Can  you  form  auditory  images  of  the  intensity  of  a 


30      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

violin  tone — (a)  very  strong;  (b)  strong;  (c)  weak;  (d) 
very  weak? 

5.  Can  you  form  auditory  imagery  of  the  rhythm  of — 

(a)  The  snare-drum?  (b)  The  bass-dnmi?  (c)  '  Dixie/ 
or  other  air  heard  played?  (d)  Tell  me  not  in  mourn- 
ful numbers  '  spoken  by  yourself  ? 

III.  Motor. — I.  Can  you  image,  in  motor  terms,  your- 
self— (a)  Rocking  in  a  chair?  (b)  Walking  down  a  stair- 
way? (c)  Biting  a  lump  of  sugar?  (d)  Clenching  your 
fist? 

2.  Does  motor  imagery  arise  in  your  mind  when  you 
recall — (a)  A  waterfall?  (b)  A  facial  expression  of  fear? 
(c)  The  bleating  of  sheep?  (d)  Two  boys  on  a  teeter- 
board? 

3.  Aside  from  the  actual  inceptive  movements,  do  you 
get  motor  imagery  when  recalling — (a)  A  very  high  tone? 

(b)  A  very  low  tone?  (c)  Words  like  'Paderewski,' 
'  bubble,'  '  tete-a-tete,'  '  Hurrah!'? 

4.  Can  you  form  motor  images  of — (a)  An  inch?  (b) 
A  yard?    (c)  A  mile? 

5.  Can  you  form  a  motor  image  of — (a)  The  weight  of 
a  poimd  of  butter?    (b)  Your  speed  in  running  a  race? 

(c)  The  speed  of  an  arrow? 

IV.  Tactual. — i.  Can  you  form  a  tactual  image  of  the 
pressure  of — (a)  Velvet?  (b)  Smooth  glass?  (c)  Sand- 
paper?    (d)  Mud? 

2.  Can  you  form  tactual  imagery  of  the  following  im- 
pressions made  in  the  palm  of  your  hand — (a)  The  size 
of  a  certain  coin?    (b)  The  form  of  the  same  coin?    (c) 


MENTAL  IMAGES  3' 

The  direction  of  a  line  traced  by  a  pencil  point?    (d)  The 
intermittent  touch  of  a  vibrating  body? 

3.  Can  you  form  tactual  imagery  of — (a)  The  flow  of 
water  against  the  finger?  (b)  The  sensation  from  a  pres- 
sure spot?  (c)  The  weight  of  a  particular  coin  in  the 
hand? 

V.  Olfactory. — i.  Can  you  image  the  odor  of — (a)  Cof- 
fee?   (b)  Camphor?    (c)  An  onion?    (d)  Apple-blossoms? 

2.  Can  you  image  odors  from — (a)  A  meadow?  (b) 
A  confectioner's  shop? 

VI.  Gustatory. — i.  Can  you  image  the  taste  of — (a) 
Sugar?    (b)  Salt?    (c)  Vinegar?    (d)  Quinine? 

2.  Can  you  image  the  taste  of — (a)  An  apple?  (b)  A 
chocolate  cake?     (c)  Beefsteak? 

VII.  Thermal. — i.  Can  you  image  the  coldness  of — (a) 
Ice  cream?  (b)  A  draught  of  cold  air?  (c)  The  sensa- 
tion from  the  stimulation  of  a  cold  spot? 

2.  Can  you  image  the  warmth  of — (a)  Hot  tea?  (b)  A 
warm  poker?  (c)  A  warm  bath?  (d)  The  sensation  from 
the  stimulation  of  a  warm  spot? 

VIII.  Pain. — I.  Can  you  secure  a  sensory  image  of  the 
pain  of — (a)  The  prick  of  a  pin?  (b)  Running  your  finger 
along  the  edge  of  a  sharp  knife?  (c)  A  toothache  or  head- 
ache?   (d)  The  stimulation  of  a  pain  spot?" 

Find  the  average  for  each  of  the  eight  classes  of  images 
and  plot  a  curve  as  in  Fig.  3,  in  which  the  horizontal  line 
represents  the  types  of  images  and  the  vertical  line  the 
averages  of  their  vividness. 

3.  Another  method  which  is  useful  primarily  to  dis- 


32      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


s 

4 

r-^-J '• 

J 

r— 

5      — -:                           1 1       ? 

^ 

1             1       1 i       1 — •' 

III 

1 

I                  1 J 

1 

L 

I  I  III  ji  ¥  21  mun 


Fig.  3. — Records  of  Two  Persons 


tinguish  the  visualizer  from  the  auditory-motor  individual 
is  as  follows: 

Commit  to  memory  the  accompanying  pattern  of  letters 
by  reading  from  left  to  right. 

k   n    p 

s    o    h 

g  r  w 
Lay  the  book  aside  and  attempt  to  recall  the  three  ver- 
tical columns  beginning  at  the  bottom.  Then  recall  the 
diagonals  beginning  at  the  left,  then  the  vertical  columns 
beginning  at  the  top,  and  finally  the  horizontal  lines  be- 
ginning at  the  right.  Are  you  able  to  do  this  without 
having  to  repeat  the  letters  until  you  come  to  the  desired 
one?  For  example,  in  recalling  the  vertical  columns  from 
below,  do  you  have  to  repeat  the  letters  until  you  come 
to  the  first  one  in  the  last  line?  Or  can  you  visualize  the 
entire  pattern  and  read  off,  as  it  were,  from  the  mental 
picture  the  particular  succession  of  letters  called  for? 
The  latter  person  would  be  predominantly  a  visualizer, 


MENTAL   IMAGES  33 

while  the  former  would  be  predominantly  an  auditory- 
motor  person. 

Discuss  these  questions: 

1.  In  which  school  studies  and  exercises  would  strong 
visual  imagery  be  a  distinct  advantage?    Motor  imagery? 

2.  What  advantage  might  there  be  for  a  teacher  to 
know  what  her  dominant  class  of  imagery  is?  If  a 
person  is  strongly  of  one  type,  illustrations  and  explana- 
tions in  teaching  are  apt  to  be  taken  from  that  field  of 
imagery.  How  would  these  affect  pupils  of  a  distinctly 
different  type? 

3.  Would  it  be  advisable  to  separate  pupils  into  differ- 
ent classes  according  to  their  prevailing  imagery?  See 
Thomdike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  89. 

4.  Is  it  advisable  to  appeal  to  only  one  type  of  imagery 
in  teaching? 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   TRIAL   AND   ERROR    METHOD   OF    LEARNING 

Types  of  Methods.  There  are  three  methods  by  which 
the  doing  of  a  definite  act  may  be  learned. 

a.  By  trial  and  error,  that  is,  by  making  random 
attempts  imtil  by  chance  some  attempts  are  successful. 

b.  By  imitation,  that  is,  by  observing  the  performance 
of  the  act  and  then  attempting  to  copy  it. 

c.  By  reasoning,  that  is,  by  attempting  to  think  it  out 
and  then  proceeding  accordingly. 

The  most  fundamental  of  these  is  the  trial  and  error 
method.  The  acquisition  of  all  motor  control  is  accom- 
plished primarily  by  this  method.  The  others  serve  only 
as  supplementary  aids.  For  example,  in  learning  to  strike 
a  ball  with  a  bat  the  boy  begins  by  attempting  to  strike  it. 
He  will  probably  not  even  succeed  in  touching  it  until 
after  several  attempts,  when  the  ball  and  bat  happen  to 
meet.  As  he  continues,  the  successful  trials  become  more 
and  more  frequent,  while  the  failures  gradually  diminish. 
Learning  to  strike  the  ball  may  possibly  be  facilitated 
by  observing  and  imitating  an  expert  batter,  but  the 
attempt  to  reason  as  to  how  to  strike  would  probably  be 
of  little  or  no  assistance  in  this  particular  case. 

34 


THE   TRIAL    AND   ERROR    METHOD   OF    LEARNING    35 

The  Problem  of  the  Experiment  is  to  demonstrate  the 
trial  and  error  method  of  learning,  its  nature  and  sig- 
nificance in  learning  to  coordinate  perceptual  and  motor 
factors.  To  show  this  satisfactorily  it  is  necessary  to 
test  the  process  of  learning  a  relatively  new  and  undevel- 
oped act.  For  this  purpose  we  shall  use  mirror  writing. 
This  consists  essentially  in  the  establishment  of  a  new 
connection  between  hand  movements  and  the  visual  per- 
ception of  these  movements  as  seen  in  a  mirror. 

Material  and  Apparatus.  Prepare  the  following  material 
for  the  experiment:  Lay  a  piece  of  cardboard  back  of 
Fig.  4.  Prick  through  the  page  with  a  pin  at  the  apexes 
of  the  twelve  angles  of  the  star  outline.  Connect  these 
points  with  straight  Hnes  and  then  trim  the  card  to  pro- 
duce a  six-pointed  star  pattern.  Lay  the  pattern  on  a 
sheet  of  paper  and  trace  a  line  around  it,  making  an  out- 
line like  Fig.  4.  Insert  the  arrow  and  cross  line  in  their 
appropriate  places.  Draw  eleven  such  outlines,  each  on 
a  separate  sheet  of  paper.^ 

Set  a  mirror  on  the  table  about  eighteen  inches  from 
you  and  facing  toward  you.  Set  it  in  a  vertical  position 
and  at  right  angles  to  your  median  plane.  The  mirror 
must  be  at  least  six  by  six  inches.  It  may  be  held  in 
position  by  means  of  books  or  other  convenient  objects 
placed  against  it.  The  face  of  the  mirror,  however,  must 
be  left  free. 

Procedixre.    Lay  one  of  the  star  outlines  on  the  table 

*  In  order  to  economize  time,  it  is  well  to  have  a  rubber  stamp 
made  by  means  of  which  the  patterns  may  be  prepared  quickly. 


36      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

just  in  front  of  the  mirror  so  that  the  arrow  is  nearest 
the  mirror.  Fasten  the  sheet  to  the  table  with  two  pins. 
By  means  of  a  pencil  trace  with  the  left  hand  just  one-half 


Fig.  4. 


of  this  outline.  Begin  at  the  crossbar  and  go  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  arrow  points.  Record  on  this 
outline  the  exact  time  in  seconds  which  it  took  to  trace 
this  half.  Also  label  it  properly  as  being  the  first  half 
done  with  the  left  hand.  Lay  this  sheet  aside.  Then  trace 
with  the  right  hand  the  remaining  ten  outlines,  doing  each 
one  completely.     Number  them  in  the  order  in  which 


THE   TRIAL   AND   ERROR    METHOD    OF    LEARNING    37 

you  do  them.  Record  on  each  the  time  required  to  do 
the  tracing  of  that  particular  outHne. 

Observe  your  hand  only  in  the  mirror.  Never  observe 
it  directly.  To  guard  against  this  a  piece  of  cardboard 
can  easily  be  clamped  to  a  tripod  to  intercept  the  direct 
view.  Follow  the  line  as  closely  as  possible.  As  soon  as 
you  notice  that  the  pencil  is  beside  the  line,  attempt  to 
get  back.  In  doing  this,  do  not  lift  the  pencil  from  the 
paper.  The  first  tracing  will  usually  be  difficult.  It  is 
therefore  important  to  persist. 

Results.  Construct  a  table  to  show  (a)  the  time  in 
seconds  required  for  each  tracing,  and  (b)  the  number  of 
errors  made  in  each  tracing.  By  an  error  is  meant  a 
correcting  movement  as  shown  in  Fig.  5.  Each  attempt 
to  return  to  the  line,  whether  successful  or  not,  is  counted 
as  an  error.    Plot  the  results  in  two  curves,  placing  the 


Fig.  5. 


38      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

number  of  trials  on  the  horizontal  line  and  the  time  and 
errors  on  the  vertical  line.    See  Fig.  6. 

Discuss  the  following  points: 

I.  Examine  the  two  or  three  places  in  your  first  tracing 


Fig.  6. 

which  were  especially  difficult,  such  as  are  shown  in  Fig.  5, 
where  a  large  number  of  random  movements  were  made  in 
all  directions.  Did  you  find  in  these  difficult'  places  that 
the  determination  to  move  in  a  certain  desired  direction 
resulted  in  movement  in  that  direction?  Or,  did  you  find 
that  you  were  about  as  apt  to  go  in  some  other  direction  ? 
The  experiment  shows  that  you  learn  to  trace  the  line 
by  the  "try,  try  again  "  method.  Thinking,  or  making 
up  your  mind  to  move  here  or  there  gives  little  or  no 
assistance. 


THE    TRIAL    AND    ERROR    METHOD    OF    LEARNING    39 

2.  Did  you  notice  any  feeling  of  pleasure  or  satisfaction 
when  you  were  successful  in  returning  to  the  line?  If  so, 
in  what  way  would  that  help  in  the  later  records? 

3.  In  what  respect  is  your  process  of  learning  in  this 
experiment  similar  to  a  child's  learning  to  write? 

4.  Is  the  latter  more  difficult  for  the  child  than  the 
former  is  for  you?    If  so,  why? 

The  importance  of  the  method  of  trial  and  error  in  the 
development  of  the  motor  life  of  the  child  is  exceedingly 
great.  We  can  realize  its  significance  only  when  we 
remember  that  all  of  the  activities  which  involve  muscular 
coordination  are  acquired  by  this  method.  It  is  in  this 
manner,  for  example,  that  the  child  learns  to  reach  suc- 
cessfully for  an  object  before  him.  Many  random  attempts 
to  reach  are  made  until  the  hand  grasps  the  object. 
He  learns  to  walk,  to  control  his  head,  to  move  the  arms 
and  fingers  in  desired  ways  largely  by  trial  and  error.  Of 
course,  for  many  of  these  activities  there  are  instinctive 
tendencies,  but  these  are  for  the  most  part  indefinite  and 
often  consist  of  little  more  than  a  great  abundance  of 
impulses  to  act. 

It  seems,  therefore,  important  that  the  teacher  should 
know  the  nature  and  meaning  of  the  trial  and  error  method, 
that  she  should  realize  its  fundamental  importance  in  the 
development  of  child  life,  that  she  should  understand  what 
school  exercises  are  learned  wholly  or  largely  by  this 
method  and  which  can  be  acquired  more  quickly  by  stim- 
tdating  other  modes  of  learning,  and  that  she  should 
appreciate  something  of  the  difficulty  in  acquiring  accu- 


40      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

rate  muscular  control  such  as  is  involved  in,  for  example, 
learning  to  write. 

For  more  complete  discussion  of  the  practical  and 
theoretical  bearings  of  this  mode  of  learning  the  following 
references  may  be  consulted:  Kirkpatrick,  Fundamentals 
of  Child  Study,  pp.  81-86.  O'Shea,  Dynamic  Factors 
in  Education,  pp.  110-121.  Bagley,  The  Educative 
Process,  pp.  242-243. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE    PROGRESS    OF    LEARNING 

I.  Rate  of  Improvement 

The  Problem  is  to  determine  (a)  the  general  rate  of 
improvement,  (b)  whether  improvement  progresses  at  a 
uniform  rate  from  beginning  to  end,  and  if  not,  when  it 
is  most  rapid  and  when  least  rapid,  (c)  whether  there 
are  periods  of  improvement  and  retardation,  and  (d)  the 
effect  of  a  long  interval  of  rest. 

For  the  investigation  of  these  problems  the  type  of 
learning  begun  in  the  last  experiment  will  be  continued. 
It  is  well  adapted  to  this  purpose  for  the  reason  that  a 
considerable  amount  of  improvement  can  be  accomplished 
in  a  relatively  short  period  of  time  and  for  the  reason  that 
considerable  practice  has  already  been  attained  in  it. 

Material.  Prepare  twenty-five  star  outlines  as  directed 
in  the  last  chapter. 

Procedure.  Continue  the  mirror  tracing  exactly  as 
directed  before.  Try  to  improve  as  rapidly  as  you  can, 
both  in  the  time  and  accuracy  of  tracing.  In  order  to 
avoid  the  disturbing  effect  of  fatigue  it  is  well  to  alternate 
the  preparation  of  the  outlines  with  the  tracing.  For 
example,  prepare  five  outlines,  then  trace  five,  etc.    Num- 

41 


42      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

ber  the  tracings  in  the  order  in  which  you  do  them. 
Record  on  each  the  exact  time  required  to  trace  it.  After 
all  the  tracings  are  done  return  to  the  one  begun  with  the 
left  hand  and  finish  the  remaining  half. 

Results.  Construct  a  table  showing  the  time  and  errors 
of  each  record.  Plot  curves  from  these  data,  making  them 
continuous  with  the  curves  drawn  of  the  ten  records  made 
in  the  preceding  chapter.  Indicate  the  points  of  junction 
by  short  cross  lines.  Calculate  the  percentage  of  improve- 
ment, comparing  the  last  right-hand  tracing  with  the  first. 
Do  the  same  for  the  two  left-hand  outlines. 

State  your  conclusions,  and  in  connection  with  these 
discuss  the  following  points: 

1.  Which  part  of  the  curve  shows  the  most  rapid  im- 
provement? Would  you  expect  to  find  the  same  fact  in 
all  forms  of  learning? 

2.  Is  there  any  indication  of  periods  of  more  rapid 
improvement  followed  by  periods  of  little  or  no  improve- 
ment, or  possibly  even  loss?  What  explanation  can  you 
suggest? 

If  no  distinct  periods  or  "  plateaus  "  are  recognizable, 
it  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  practice  has  not 
been  continued  long  enough.  These  "  plateaus "  can 
be  seen  in  Fig.  6,  which  represents  one  hundred  tracings 
made  at  the  rate  of  one  a  day  for  one  hundred  consec- 
utive days. 

3.  Does  the  time  curve  show  improvement  at  the  same 
or  at  different  periods  from  the  error  curve?  For  example, 
in  Fig.  6  the  two  curves  show  parallel  improvement  during 


THE    PROGRESS   OF    LEARNING  43 

the  first  rapid  period  of  learning.  After  that  the  error 
curve  continues  to  improve,  while  the  time  curve  actually 
shows  a  loss  until  the  former  has  reached  its  "  dead  level," 
after  which  the  time  curve  begins  to  drop  again.  This 
would  indicate  that  a  plateau  shows  lack  of  improvement 
only  in  the  particular  phase  of  the  learning  process  repre- 
sented by  that  particular  curve,  and  that  there  is  more 
rapid  development  in  some  other  phase  of  the  process. 

4.  Examine  the  individual  records  to  see  whether  im- 
provement in  time  is  more  frequently  accompanied  by 
little  or  no  improvement  in  errors  than  by  distinct  reduc- 
tion of  errors. 

5.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  long  interval  between  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  records,  that  is,  the  last  record  of  the 
preceding  chapter  and  the  first  of  this  one? 

6.  Compare  the  improvement  of  the  left  hand  with  the 
right  hand.  How  do  you  explain  it?  What  significance 
might  this  have  for  the  spread  of  practice? 

2.  Factors  Affecting  the  Rate  of  Learning.    Selecting 
the  Successful  Trials 

Problem.  The  progress  of  learning  depends  largely 
upon  the  selection  of  the  successful  acts  and  the  corre- 
sponding diminution  of  the  random  and  unsuccessful  acts. 
Whatever  factors  condition  the  emphasis  and  selection  of 
the  successful  trials  promote  the  rapidity  of  learning. 

The  problem  of  this  experiment  is  to  determine  the 
effect  of  selecting  the  successful  acts.    For  this  purpose 


44      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

we  shall  compare  a  process  of  practice  in  which  such  selec- 
tion is  present,  with  practice  from  which  it  is  absent. 

Material.    Several  sheets  of  paper  and  a  pencil. 

Procediire.  Close  your  eyes  and  draw  with  the  right 
hand  twenty-five  circles  approximately  two  centimetres 
in  diameter.  The  arm  should  not  rest  upon  the  table, 
but  should  be  supported  entirely  from  the  shoulder.  The 
aim  in  drawing  is  to  make  complete  circles.  Attempt  to 
stop  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  point  from  which  you 
started.  The  distance  between  these  two  points  will  be 
considered  the  error.  Draw  slowly  and  carefully,  taking 
from  five  to  ten  seconds  for  each  circle.  Make  the  circles 
in  rows  either  across  the  page  or  down  the  page,  in  order 
that  you  may  know  later  the  exact  order  in  which  they 
were  drawn.  It  is  important  to  keep  the  eyes  closed  during 
the  entire  task.  After  you  have  drawn  the  last  circle 
turn  over  your  sheet  and  lay  it  aside,  before  you  open 
your  eyes. 

On  the  next  sheet  draw  another  series  of  twenty-five 
circles.  In  this  series  open  yoiu*  eyes  between  the  con- 
secutive drawings,  to  see  the  circle  just  drawn,  but  keep 
the  eyes  closed  while  the  circles  are  being  drawn.  It  is 
important  to  draw  slowly  and  carefully. 

Results.  Measure  the  error  in  each  circle  by  measuring 
in  millimetres  the  distance  between  the  beginning  point 
and  the  ending  point.  Construct  separate  tables  for  the 
two  series.  Average  the  errors  by  groups  of  fives  as  shown 
in  Table  III.  From  these  averages  plot  curves  as  shown 
in  Fig.  7  and  designate  them  as  series  I  and  II. 


THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


45 


TABLE  III 

EYES  CLOSED 

1st  5 

2nd  5 

3rd  5 

4th  5 

5th  5 

4  mm. 

4 

5 

10 

9 

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5 

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5.2 


5 
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4.6 


4.6 


6.0 


5.8 


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Series  I 

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15  EO  E5 

Fig.  7. 

I.  How  do  these  series  compare?   What  inference  would 
you  make  with  regard  to  learning  with  the  knowledge  of 


46      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

one's  progress  as  compared  with  learning  without  the 
knowledge  of  one's  progress? 

2.  Should  written  work  and  examination  papers  be 
returned  to  the  pupils?  Should  the  degree  of  success  be 
indicated?  What  reason  can  you  give  for  pointing  out 
the  commendable  as  well  as  the  erroneous  points? 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING    (Continued) 

Problem.  In  the  experiments  performed  thus  fax  the 
learning  process  consisted  mainly  in  the  formation  of 
motor  and  perceptual  coordinations.  In  the  following 
experiment  the  learning  will  consist  in  the  establishment 
of  associations  between  two  classes  of  visual  sjrmbols, 
both  of  which  are  perfectly  familiar  in  themselves.  The 
motor  coordinations  to  express  these  symbols  are  also 
well  established. 

The  specific  problems  are  (a)  to  study  the  progress  of 
learning  in  this  new  field  and  to  compare  it  with  the  pre- 
ceding type,  (b)  to  find  further  factors  which  influence 
the  rapidity  of  learning,  such  as  the  length  of  different 
periods  of  work  and  of  different  periods  of  rest,  mental 
and  physical  conditions,  etc.  Incidentally  we  shall  also 
obtain  data  on  the  transference  of  training,  which  will 
be  used  later. 

The  Material  is  supplied  in  the  following  pages.  It 
consists  of  sets  of  pages  headed  with  an  imitation  type- 

47 


48      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

writer  key-board.^  Each  letter  of  the  alphabet  is  enclosed 
with  a  number  in  a  circle.  Below  this  "  key-board  "  is 
the  reading  matter  which  is  to  be  transcribed.  This  read- 
ing matter  is  different  on  the  various  pages. 

Procedure.  The  task  of  the  experiment  consists  in 
substituting  the  nimibers  for  the  letters  in  the  spaces 
below.  In  order  to  obtain  data  in  regard  to  the  influence 
of  intervals  and  lengths  of  work  periods,  it  is  necessary 
to  divide  the  class  into  three  equal  groups.^  One  group 
should  work  for  ten  minutes  at  a  time  twice  a  day  with  an 
interval  of  at  least  five  hours  between  the  two  periods. 
The  second  group  should  work  for  twenty  minutes  once 
a  day,  and  the  third  group  should  work  for  forty  minutes 
every  other  day.  Each  person  should  continue  the  work 
for  six  days.  The  group  working  every  other  day  should 
work  on  the  first,  third,  and  fifth  day.  The  total  time 
in  each  group  will  be  120  minutes.  The  periods  of  work 
should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  same  time  of  the 
day.  Record  in  the  proper  places  in  the  margin  the  date 
and  time  of  day.  No  effort  should  be  made  during  the 
intervening  intervals  to  memorize  the  nimibers  and  their 
letters.  Do  not  leave  blank  spaces  between  the  words 
in  making  the  substitutions.  Begin  a  new  line  for  each 
line  of  print,  always  using  the  line  of  spaces  opposite  the 
line  of  print.  In  case  of  those  letters  for  which  two  digits 
must  be  written,  for  example  18,  both  digits  should  be 

^  This  type  of  substitution  test  was  originally  devised  several  years 
ago  by  Jastrow. 

^  Each  group  should  contain  at  least  ten  persons.  If  the  class  is 
small  it  had  better  be  divided  into  two  groups  only. 


THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING  49 

placed  in  one  square.  Work  as  rapidly  as  you  can  with- 
out making  errors.  Do  not  stop  to  correct  errors  if  you 
make  any.  Have  a  watch  on  the  table  before  you  and 
make  a  check  mark  at  the  end  of  every  five  minutes.  In 
order  that  this  may  be  done  with  as  little  disturbance  as 
possible,  begin  work  when  the  minute  hand  is  on  a  num- 
ber. After  each  period  of  work  record  any  observations 
that  may  bear  upon  the  experiment.  Note  your  general 
mental  and  physical  condition.  Note  in  particular  during 
the  course  of  the  learning  (a)  the  time  when  you  know 
the  first  numbers  without  consulting  the  key-board,  (b) 
the  time  when  the  first  complete  words  can  be  written 
without  consulting  the  key-board,  and  (c)  the  time  when 
you  know  all  or  practically  all  substitutions. 


so      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

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THE    PROGRESS    OF    LEARNING  $1 

In  order  to  obtain  data  on  the  transference  of  practice, 
perform  the  following  test  before  undertaking  the  above 
learning.  Substitute  as  quickly  as  you  can  the  symbols 
for  the  numbers  on  page  50.  Record  the  exact  length 
of  time  required  to  do  this.  After  completing  the  reg- 
ular substitution  experiment  repeat  the  same  test  using 
the  material  on  page  68.  Record  the  time.  Preserve 
these  "  before  "  and  "  after  "  tests  for  use  in  a  later 
chapter. 


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THE    PROGRESS    OF    LEARNING 


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of  diet  and  exercbe  are  hardly 
thought  of  by  them.     "  I  can 
work  so  much  better  at  night " 
is  the  constant  reply  to  the 
physician  or  elder  friend  who 
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apt  to  be  assured  that  no 
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THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


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often  and  often  the  loss  of 
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THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


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take  the  pains  to  be  cured; 
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more  acceptable  to  his  mind 
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THE    PROGRESS    OF    LEARNING 


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as  well  as  in  Classics,  in 
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in  History;  there  are 
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may  sometimes  arise  only  from 
simplicity  and  ignorance  of 
the  world.    There  are  natures 
who  are  always  dreaming  of 
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THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


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64      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


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very  best  lesson  which  he  has 
ever  had  in  life.    Let  him  try 
again — (there  was  one  who 
said  that  he  had  tried  at  many 
things  and  had  always  suc- 
ceeded at  last).    Let  him  try 
again,  and  not  allow  himself 
by  a  little  innocent  merriment 
to  be  deprived  of  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  useful 

THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


65 


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66      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


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hands.    They  attempt  fine  writ- 
ing, which  of  all  kinds  of  writ- 
ing is  the  worst;  they  lose 
the  sense  of  proportion;  they 
deem  anything  which  they 
happen  to  know  relevant  to  the 
subject  in  hand.    They  pay 
little  or  no  attention  to  the 
most  important  of  all 
principles  of  composition — 

THE    PROGRESS   OF   LEARNING 


67 


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68      EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

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THE    PROGRESS    OF    LEARNING 


69 


8  9  10  11  1213  14 15 16 17  18  192021 22232^ 


Fig.  8. 


Results.  Count  the  niimber  of  substitutions  made 
dtuing  each  five-minute  period.  Construct  a  table  show- 
ing in  different  columns  the  date  and  time  of  day,  the 
number  of  substitutions  for  each  five-minute  period,  and 
brief  introspective  comments.  Plot  a  ctu^e  in  which  the 
five-minute  periods  are  represented  on  the  horizontal  line 
and  the  number  of  substitutions  on  the  vertical  line.  See 
Fig.  8. 
State  your  conclusions  and  discuss  the  following  points: 
I.  Compare  your  curve  with  the  curve  obtained  on  the 
basis  of  the  mirror  tracings,  particularly  with  regard  to 
the  rate  of  learning,  rapid  improvement  at  first  and  slower 
progress  after  that. 


70      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

2.  Does  the  present  curve  reveal  any  plateaus?  How 
many? 

3.  Can  you  trace  any  connection  between  these  stages 
and  your  introspective  notes?  For  instance,  between  your 
general  physical  and  mental  condition  and  retardation 
or  rapid  learning.  If  your  curve  has  distinct  stages,  notice 
particularly  whether  these  coincide  with  the  times,  for 
example,  when  you  first  knew  all  the  substitutions,  or 
when  you  were  able  to  write  complete  words  and  phrases 
without  consulting  the  key-board. 

4.  What  significance  do  the  plateaus  have  in  the  learn- 
ing process? 

See  Swift,  Mind  in  the  Making,  pp.  206-218. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE   TRANSFERENCE   OF   TRAINING 

Problem.  The  object  of  this  experiment  is  to  determine 
(a)  to  what  extent,  if  at  all,  special  training  in  one  mental 
function  improves  other  mental  fimctions,  and  (b)  to  find 
some  of  the  factors  in  such  transference.^ 

The  Material  for  this  experiment  is  supplied  on  the 
following  pages.  Do  not  read  or  examine  any  of  it  until 
you  are  ready  to  use  it,  and  then  concern  yourself  only 
with  that  portion  of  it  which  you  are  about  to  use.  In 
order  to  insure  this  condition,  cover  with  a  sheet  of  paper 
all  material  which  is  not  used  at  the  time. 

Procedure.  The  usual  method  of  determining  by  experi- 
ment the  transference  of  training  is  to  test  a  variety  of 
mental  functions,  then  to  undertake  a  long  course  of  train- 
ing in  one  specific  direction  and  finally  to  test  again  the 
same  functions  as  were  tested  before  the  training.    The 

^  The  problems  involved  in  the  transference  of  training  are 
usually  discussed  in  educational  literature  under  the  heading  of 
formal  discipline,  which  is  the  doctrine  that  the  mental  discipline 
gained  in  the  pursuance  of  school  studies  improves  one's  ability  to 
perform  other  activities. 

71 


72      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

long  practice  course  is  called  the  training  series,  and  the 
short  tests  performed  before  and  after  the  practice  are 
called  the  test  series,  or  end  tests. 
\  In  this  experiment  the  test  series  consists  of: 

a.  A  test  of  immediate  auditory  memory. 

b.  Learning  French  vocabulary. 

c.  Memorizing  a  group  of  ten  syllables, 

d.  Memorizing  a  stanza  of  poetry. 

The  training  series  consists  in  learning  Italian  vocab- 
ulary. 

Proceed  as  follows: 

a.  The  span  of  immediate  auditory  memory  is  to  be 
tested  in  the  same  manner  as  in  Chapter  I,  except  that 
the  following  groups  of  letters  are  to  be  used  instead  of 
words.  These  groups  should  be  read  to  the  class  at  the 
rate  of  one  letter  per  second,  reading  one  group  at  a  time 
and  presenting  the  groups  in  order  of  size,  from  the  small- 
est to  the  largest.  After  a  group  has  been  read  the  class 
writes  down  immediately  all  the  letters  remembered  of 
that  group  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  presented. 

1  p  k  r 

b  s  y  g  n 

k  f  c  q  m  d 

h  b  n  f  t  V  X 

Iprdmhck 

qwfrbhpmt 

dlznqjsvrf 


THE    TRANSFERENCE   OF   TRAINING 


73 


b.  Look  through  the  list  of  French  words  below  to 
see  if  you  already  know  any  of  the  words.  Strike  out  those 
you  know  and  enough  others  to  leave  only  ten  words. 
If  none  are  familiar  strike  out  the  last  five  words.  Then 
learn  the  English  equivalents  of  these  ten.  Record  the 
exact  time  in  minutes  and  seconds  required  for  the  learn- 
ing. Consider  them  learned  as  soon  as  you  are  able  to 
give  the  English  equivalents  upon  seeing  the  French  words. 
Have  a  piece  of  paper  at  hand  to  cover  the  English  words 
to  find  out  whether  you  are  able  to  do  this. 


chainage 

eveque 

verbeux 

rivage 

delit 

appui 

semelle 

voittire 

mordre 

boutis 

gacher 

galbe 

reveur 

trochet 

ressui 


survey 

bishop 

verbose 

shore 

offence 

support 

foot 

vehicle 

bite 

rooting 

temper 

outline 

dreamer 

cluster 

lair 


c.  Memorize  the  following  stanza  of  poetry.  Record 
the  exact  time  required.  Consider  it  memorized  as  soon 
as  you  are  able  to  repeat  it  without  consulting  the  text. 


74      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

From  rocky  cleft  the  torrent  dashes; 

Down,  down  he  comes  with  thunder-shock; 
The  sturdy  oak  beneath  him  crashes, 

And  after  rolls  the  loosened  rock. 
Amazed,  o'erjoyed,  with  awe  and  wonder 

The  traveller  stops  and  gazes  round; 
He  hears  the  all-pervading  thunder. 
But  cannot  tell  from  whence  the  sound. 
c.  Memorize  the  ten  syllables  below  so  that  you  are 
able  to  repeat  them  from  memory  in  the  correct  order. 
Record  the  time. 

dut 
nof 
tep 
min 
rus 
nir 
len 
zat 
sim 
pez 
The  training  series  consists  of  i8o  Italian  words  and 
their  English  equivalents.     They  are  divided  into  six 
groups  of  thirty  words  each.    You  are  to  learn  the  English 
equivalents  in  the  same  manner  as  the  French  vocabulary. 
Memorize  one  group  a  day.    Record  the  time.    Do  the 
learning  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  same  time  of  the 
day  on  six  successive  days.     After  the  completion  of  this 
practice,  repeat  the  tests  performed  before  the  training, 
using,  however,  the  new  material  provided  on  later  pages. 


THE   TRANSFERENCE    OF    TRAINING 


75 


acca 

cuoio 

accio 

costa 

acqua 

destro 

alia 

ne 

ballo 

ermo 

bere 

fetta 

caffo 

tuffo 

gabbo 

carda 

quatto 

cambo 

acre 

raja 

rilevo 

una 

ritrorso 

everse 

falda 

elmo 

dolo 

fin 

disfetto 

dtta 


zero 

leather 

that 

rib 

with 

skilful 

market 

thence 

dance 

desert 

drink 

bit 

add 

ruin 

jeer 

town 

still 

truck 

sour 

turnip 

crumbs 

omen 

stubborn 

ruined 

plait 

helm 

fraud 

until 

affronts 

town 


76      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


II 


affare 

battello 

agio 

lana 

ala 

legnoso 

balia 

majo 

beffa 

marra 

botte 

talpa 

calco 

otta 

prezzo 

conto 

raggio 

cardo 

elce 

scuro 

tale 

ritto 

scalzo 

mezzo 

monco 

lucco 

lira 

omo 

libbra 

conti 


business 

vessel 

comfort 

wool 

wing 

woody 

judge 

tree 

joke 

spade 

tub 

mole 

drawing 

hour 

prize 

prudent 

ray 

thistle 

oak 

dark 

like 

upright 

naked 

half 

maimed 

gown 

harp 

man 

pound 

accoimts 


THE   TRANSFERENCE   OF   TRAINING 


77 


III 


fieno 

mazzo 

bagno 

fitto 

pesca 

mena 

berza 

miglio 

flato 

bianco 

miro 

fondo 

blando 

frego 

gaffo 

brama 

frutta 

mosca 

butima 

nano 

fuoco 

gamba 

nece 

caccia 

gatta 

netto 

caldo 

guida 

ogni 

nuto 


hay 

bunch 

bath 

thick 

sport 

plot 

skin 

mile 

gust 

white 

strange 

land 

soft 

dash 

stupid 

wish 

dessert 

fly 

crowd 

dwarf 

fire 

leg 

death 

hunt 

cat 

clean 

hot 

leader 

every 

sign 


78      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


IV 


nord 

prode 

zana 

lasso 

dazio 

prova 

degno 

rame 

burla 

desto 

refe 

lena 

dicace 

legna 

remo 

dolce 

letto 

saldo 

doge 

scolio 

arbusto 

lino 

scorso 

dorato 

lode 

seno 

dosso 

lucro 

torvo 

stufa 


north  '■ 

bold 

basket 

error 

tax 

trial 

worthy 

copper 

joke 

brisk 

thread 

breath 

glib 

fuel 

oar 

sweet 

bed 

firm 

captain 

note 

shrub 

flax 

error 

golden 

praise 

breast 

back 

gain 

grim 

stove 


THE   TRANSFERENCE   OF   TRAINING 


79 


fune 

imo 

calze 

orzo 

incauto 

uscio 

carta 

intacto 

caso 

came 

abbisso 

pigro 

pegno 

manto 

mastice 

vinto 

barba 

foggia 

gita 

inno 

canotto 

zoUa 

corsa 

lento 

guerra 

storta 

nodo 

sponda 

bardo 

sabbia 


rope 

deep 

stockings 

barley 

careless 

door 

paper 

complete 

accident 

meat 

guH 

idle 

pledge 

much 

glue 

vanquished 

uncle 

fashion 

journey 

h3rmn 

ship 

dod 

run 

slow 

war 

retort 

knot 

brink 

poet 

sand 


So      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


VI 


estro 

Ittme 

esile 

tutto 

lutto 

vallo 

mosca 

gambo 

ferita 

ebumio 

smalto 

vispo 

zuffa 

manso 

mastio 

torto 

bacio 

finche 

giomo 

lordo 

latte 

vezzi 

sugo 

gioco 

grido 

stima 

neve 

sommo 

gia 

rotto 


genius 

Hght 

thin 

all 

grief 

fence 

fly 

stock 

cut 

ivory 

enamel 

quick 

fight 

tame 

hinge 

wrong 

kiss 

until 

day 

awkward 

milk 

charms 

sap 

trick 

cry 

esteem 

snow 

top 

once 

broken 


THE   TRANSFERENCE   OF    TRAINING  8l 

Repeat  the  end  tests  using  the  following  material: 

a.  Immediate  auditory  memory. 

1  k  b  h 

g  1  d  s  p 

f  b  w  k  n  t 

y  n  c  r  d  h  j 

zqtndrkv 

hjnxqdfmb 

cmstvrbhpq 

b.  French  vocabulary.    Again  cross  out  all  the  words 
you  know  and  enough  others  to  leave  only  ten  words. 


tuyau 

pourchas 

liste 

paquis 

colon 

sparte 

ecueil 

houle 

moellon 

tamis 

roupille 

autan 

calcet 

curet 

filonUL 


tube 

pursuit 

band 

pasture 

farmer 

broom 

rock 

surge 

sandstone 

sieve 

jacket 

wind 

mast-head 

skin 

thief 


82      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

/ 

c.  Stanza  of  poetry. 

And,  as  the  boy,  with  hopeless  longing — 

When  stolen  freedom  yields  no  rest, 
But  home-thoughts  to  his  heart  keep  thronging — 

Flies  to  his  injured  mother's  breast; 
So  Music  has  the  power  to  charm  us. 

When  turned  from  Nature's  simple  truth; 
From  cold  and  foreign  ways  to  warn  us 

With  the  old  feelings  of  our  youth. 

d.  SyUables. 

nop 
tud 
dal 
ros 

mac 
biz 

jip 
lor 
fip 
ruv 

Results.  Construct  a  table  similar  to  Table  IV,  show- 
ing the  learning  times  of  the  different  groups  of  the  train- 
ing series,  and  of  the  different  test  series.  Calculate  the 
percentage  of  improvement  in  the  training  series  by  com- 
paring the  last  day's  record  with  the  first  day's  record. 
Similarly,  calculate  the  percentage  of  difference  between 
the  tests  after  the  training  and  before  the  training. 


THE   TRANSFERENCE   OF   TRAINING  S$ 

TABLE  IV 

RECORD   OF   ONE   INDIVIDUAL 

End  Tests      Training  Series    End  Tests        Percentage 
Time  Time  for  Each        Time  Gain  or 

Before  Group  After  Loss 

French 4  min.       i  20  min.  2%  min.  +31 

Poetry 7  min.       2  20  min.  5      min.  +29 

Syllables 5  min.       3  16  min.  2j^min.  +50 

Memory  Span 6  letters   415  min.  6  letters  o 

5  12  min. 

6  12  min. 

The  improvement  in  the  second  end  tests  is  not  entirely 
due  to  transference  from  the  training  series,  but  is  due 
in  a  small  measure  to  the  benefit  derived  from  the  first 
end  tests.  This  is  shown  by  performing  the  end  tests 
on  a  group  of  individuals  with  an  interval  of  one  week 
oetween  the  two  tests  and  without  taking  the  training 
tests.  A  test  performed  in  this  manner  with  eleven 
individuals  showed  an  average  improvement  of  5  per  cent, 
in  learning  French  vocabulary  and  of  10  per  cent,  in 
learning  poetry,  and  with  twenty-eight  subjects  the  im- 
provement in  learning  syllables  was  2  per  cent.  These 
percentages  must  be  subtracted  from  the  improvement 
in  the  regular  experiment  in  order  to  obtain  the  amount 
of  improvement  due  to  transference. 

Turn  to  the  experiment  in  Chapter  VII  and  compute 
the  percentage  of  improvement  in  the  end  tests,  namely 
in  the  substitution  of  symbols  for  nimibers.  Find  also 
the  percentage  of  improvement  in  the  training  series  itself 
and  compare  it  with  the  improvement  in  the  end  tests. 
Twenty-nine  persons  doing  the  end  tests  without  the  train- 
ing series  showed  a  gain  of  4  per  cent.,  which  must  be 


84      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

deducted  from  the  percentage  of  improvement  shown  by 
the  subjects  who  took  the  training  series. 

Turn  to  Chapter  VI  and  calculate  the  percentage  of 
gain  in  time  and  errors  in  the  two  tracings  made  with 
the  left  hand.  Compare  this  with  the  improvement  in  the 
practice  of  the  right  hand.^  The  records  of  twelve  sub- 
jects showed  that  the  left  hand  made  90  per  cent,  as  much 
improvement  as  the  right  hand.^ 

Questions: 

1.  Which  experiments  in  the  end  tests  are  most  like 
and  which  least  like  the  training  series?  Which  show  the 
largest  amotmt  of  improvement?  What  general  principle 
would  you  formulate? 

2.  In  general  how  much  improvement  is  transferred? 

3.  In  the  light  of  yotir  results  discuss  this  statement: 
"  A  change  in  one  function  alters  any  other  only  in  so  far 
as  the  two  functions  have  as  factors  identical  elements." 
(Thomdike,  Educational  Psychology,  First  Edition,  p.  80.) 

4.  What  bearing  have  these  experimental  results  upon 
the  question  of  mental  discipline  of  school  studies?  Would 
training  derived  from  one  study  help  in  the  pursuit  of 
others?    If  so,  to  what  extent? 

For  further  practical  exercises  see  Thomdike,  Prin- 
ciples of  Teaching,  249-256;  O'Shea,  Education  as  Ad- 
justment, Chapters  13  and  14. 

*  This  type  of  transference  of  practice  of  one  organ  of  the  body 
to  its  bilaterally  symmetrical  organ  is  called  cross-education.  Its 
bearing  upon  the  whole  problem  of  transference  among  mental 
functions  is  only  indirect. 

•Starch,  Psych.  Bulletin,  7,  1910,  20-23. 


THE   TRANSFERENCE    OF    TRAINING  85 


TABLE  V 

PERCENTAGE    OF    GAIN    IN    END    TESTS    (30    OBSERVERS).      TRAINING 
SERIES    CONTINUED    ONE    WEEK 

French  Poetry  Syllables            Memory  Span 

1 31  29  50  O 

2 20  17  53  o 

3 18  9  50  o 

4 ••  12  25  o 

5 7  17  70  o 

6 50  14  62  14 

7 II  44  o 

8 10  29  75  -12 

9 -22  38  o    '  o 

10 32  69  48  o 

II 45  50  48  o 

12 20  28  18  o 

13  •  •  -. 35  40  20  o 

14 9  20  15  o 

15 6  12  14  o 

16 17  5  20  o 

17 14  21  7  o 

18 8  4  -3  o 

19 3  3  5  o 

20 -26  25  20  o 

21 26  21  25  -14 

22 21  -  7  39  17 

23 23  4  16  o 

24 -25  16  13  o 

25 -  4  20  ID  O 

26 30  23  -  4  o 

27 -II  -  7  25  o 

28 27  3  16  o 

29 33  18  27  o 

30. -24  8  55  17 

Average....  13  17  29  I 


CHAPTER  IX 

ASSOCIATION 

I.  The  General  Law  of  Association 

The  law  of  association  simply  stated  is  this,  Things* 
experienced  together  tend  to  recur  together.  The  appli- 
cations of  this  law  to  teaching  are  very  obvious  and  very 
wide.  They  may  be  summed  up  under  two  principles, ' '  Put 
together  what  you  wish  to  have  go  together,"  and  "  Re- 
ward good  impulses."  ^ 

The  force  of  the  law  of  association  may  be  demonstrated 
very  simply  in  this  manner:  Find  the  number  of  seconds 
required  to  repeat  the  alphabet  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Next  find  the  time  required  to  repeat  the  alphabet  back- 
wards.   Explain  the  difference. 

In  the  next  experiment  commit  to  memory  the  seven 
Spanish  words  printed  below  in  Group  I.  While  doing 
this  keep  the  English  equivalents  covered  with  a  piece  of 
paper.  Always  repeat  the  words  in  order  from  the  top 
of  the  column.  Then  cover  the  Spanish  list  and  memorize 
the  English  words  in  their  order.  After  you  have  learned 
both  lists  lay  the  book  aside  and  find  the  time  it  will 

*  That  is,  ideas,  mental  states  or  processes. 

^Thorndike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  p.  no. 

86 


ASSOCIATION 


87 


take  you  to  recall  from  memory  the  Spanish  words  in 
their  order  and  the  correct  English  equivalent  of  each. 
While  you  are  learning  do  not  compare  the  two  lists. 

Memorize  the  words  in  the  second  group,  but  in  this 
case  read  the  Spanish  word  and  the  English  equivalent 
together.  As  soon  as  you  know  them,  lay  the  book  aside 
and  find  the  time  required  to  recall  the  foreign  words  and 
their  meanings.  Explain  the  difEerence  in  time  between 
the  recalling  of  the  two  groups. 


GROUP  I 

lutea 
molleta 

oriole 
biscuit 

poder 

power 

despensa 

pantry 

elenco 

catalogue 

conata 

effort 

obra 

GROUP  II 

work 

tenue 

thin 

vera 

edge 

hondon 

bottom 

redro 

behind 

desvan 

garret 

dedo 

finger 

lecho 

couch 

88      EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 
TABLE  VI 

TABLE   OF   NINETEEN  PERSONS,  SHOWING   THE   TIME   IN    SECONDS   OF 
RECALLING  THE   TWO  GROUPS 

Group  I  Group  II 

I 

2 .  . 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

i6 

17 

i8 

19 • 

Average 35.5"  13" 

2.  Specific  Laws  of  Association 

Problem.  The  object  is  to  demonstrate  the  laws  accord- 
ing to  which  ideas  or  mental  states  are  associated.  Why 
does  a  given  idea  bring  to  mind  a  certain  idea  rather  than 
some  other?  For  example,  why  does  "  December  25th  " 
bring  to  mind  "  Christmas "  rather  than  "  President 
Johnson's  proclamation  of  pardon  "?  What  determines 
which  one  of  a  score  of  possible  connections  shall  be  made? 


25" 

10" 

17" 

5" 

16" 

9" 

50" 

10" 

56" 

6" 

30" 

10" 

35'' 

10" 

25" 

15" 

40" 

9" 

20" 

6" 

50" 

5" 

22" 

12" 

45" 

35" 

53" 

18" 

45" 

18" 

40" 

20" 

30" 

8" 

55" 

30" 

20" 

6" 

ASSOCIATION  89 

The  Material  is  supplied  on  the  following  ten  pages. 
It  is  imperative  that  you  should  not  examine  it  except 
under  strict  experimental  conditions.  Therefore,  do  not 
turn  to  it  until  you  are  ready  to  do  the  experiment.  The 
material  is  composed  of  syllables  and  ntunbers.  Each 
series  is  composed  of  ten  pairs  of  syllables  and  numbers 
printed  side  by  side.  Take  a  sheet  of  paper,  at  least 
twelve  centimetres  square,  and  cut  crosswise  in  the  centre 
of  it  a  rectangular  aperture,  5  mm.  by  4  cm.  This  will 
serve  as  a  simple  means  of  exposing  the  pairs  of  syllables 
and  numbers  for  uniform  intervals  of  time. 

Procedure.  Turn  to  Series  I  and  immediately  lay  the 
sheet  of  paper  over  the  page  so  that  the  aperture  exposes 
nothing  but  the  words  "  Series  I."  Each  pair  in  the  series 
is  to  be  exposed  for  three  seconds.  The  time  is  indicated 
by  your  partner,  who  taps  on  the  table  every  three  sec- 
onds. Take  hold  of  the  sheet  of  paper  with  the  right  hand 
and  at  the  first  tap  slide  it  down  to  expose  the  first  pair, 
at  the  next  tap  slide  it  down  to  expose  the  second  pair, 
and  so  on  through  the  entire  series.  Give  your  entire 
attention  to  the  particular  pair  exposed.  Pronounce  to 
yourself  both  the  syllable  and  the  number.  As  soon  as 
you  have  finished,  slide  the  sheet  of  paper  down  and 
expose  the  set  of  syllables  (test  series)  on  the  lower 
half  of  the  page.  Be  sure,  however,  not  to  uncover  any 
part  of  the  upper  series  (stimulus  series).  These  syllables 
are  the  same  ones  used  in  the  stimulus  series,  but  they 
are  arranged  in  different  order.  Your  partner  again  taps 
at  intervals  of  three  seconds.    Begin  at  the  top  and  write 


90      EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

opposite  each  syllable  the  number  that  comes  to  your 
mind  as  the  one  seen  with  it  in  the  stimulus  series.  Pass 
to  the  next  syllable  at  the  next  tap,  and  so  on.  If  no 
nimiber  is  recalled  leave  the  space  blank.  Work  through 
the  other  nine  series  in  exactly  the  same  manner.  Allow 
an  interval  of  at  least  two  minutes  between  the  successive 
series.  Before  working  out  the  results  your  partner 
should  go  through  the  experiment  also. 


92      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  I 

var 

37 

mup 

95 

tib 

31 

sov 

57 

raz 

89 

mup 

95 

vej 

63 

zik 

17 

tev 

40 

kes 

vej 

sov 

mup 

var 

tib 

raz 

tev 

zik 

kes 

52 

94      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  II 

rad 

43 

guf 

2Z 

dut 

25 

nib 

27 

WAP 

53 

cag 

86 

taz 

97 

ber 

34 

fon 

69 

tez 
fon 

cag 

wap 

dut 

rad 

ber 

nib 

guf 

24 

96      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


< 

SERIES  III 

rol 

58 

kuf 

73 

jer 

46 

kus 

65 

pif 

39 

geb 

64 

mez 

IS 

fex 

35 

jer 

46 

m 

kuf 
pif 
fex 
jer 

m 

rol 
kus 
geb 
mez 

79 

98      EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SI 

ERIES 

IV 

ren 

67 

sur 

49 

kep 

85 

luf 

36 

dar 

92 

kam 

33 

tuc 

38 

sor 

SI 

LOD 

68 

zaa 

ren 

kep 

tuc 

sur 

zan 

lod 

luf 

kam 

SOT 

dar 

3a 

lOO    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  V 

bal 

98 

hon 

76 

ker 

23 

liu 

68 

rad 

55 

hus 

19 

pex 

83 

liu 

68 

rul 

47 

fos 

hon 

rad 

ker 

fos 

bal 

ml 

liu 

pex 

hus 

94 

I02    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  VI 

mep 

36 

vib 

78 

lat 

90 

vul 

z8 

zed 

29 

kas 

54 

REN 

72 

dov 

88 

cer 

93 

tis 

cer 

ren 

zed 

lat 

mep 

tis 

dov 

kas 

vul 

vib 

60 

I04    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  VII 

mol 

91 

gir 

20 

lez 

66 

pof 

38 

reb 

16 

lem 

99 

zat 

48 

neb 

SO 

pof 

38 

tid 

mol 

lez 

reb 

zat 

pof 

tid 

neb 

lem 

gir 

25 

I06    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  VIII 

cak 

8i 

mtin 

56 

KEX 

13 

gam 

96 

jik 

30 

hun 

59 

dut 

74 

seb 

33 

bic 

42 

rd 

jik 

kex 

cak 

hun 

seb 

rd 

mun 

gam 

dut 

bic 

XI 

Io8   EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


dak 

14 

vof 

70 

zib 

82 

Hs 

44 

med 

71 

mib 

62 

vof 

70 

sim 

56 

len 

34 

ner 

mib 

dak 

ner 

girn 

vof 

med 

Hs 

zib 

len 

27 

no    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


SERIES  X 

nof 

45 

rus 

80 

cem 

64 

fop 

37 

mig 

29 

Ian 

87 

LOR 

53 

tal 

16 

bax 

42 

ges 

61 

nof 

cem 

mig 

lor 

bax 

ges 

tal 

Ian 

fop 

rus 

112    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Results.  The  purpose  of  the  experiment  is  to  demon- 
strate the  four  laws  of  association. 

\A.  Primacy.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  first  asso- 
ciation is  most  apt  to  be  recalled. 

b.  Frequency.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  most  fre- 
quent association  is  most  apt  to  be  recalled.  This  is 
illustrated  in  series  i,  3,  5,  7,  9,  in  which  one  syllable 
occurs  twice  with  the  same  number. 

c.  Intensity.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  most  in- 
tense or  most  vivid  association  is  most  apt  to  be  recalled. 
This  is  illustrated  in  series  2,  4,  6,  8,  and  10,  in  which  one 
pair  is  printed  in  much  larger  type. 

d.  Recency.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  most  recent 
assQsiation  is  most  apt  to  be  reg^alled.  Primacy  and  recency 
are  illustrated  in  each  series  by  the  first  and  last  pairs. 

Construct  a  table  to  show  the  number  and  percentage 
of  correct  associations.  Follow  Table  VII  as  model. 
The  results  of  Series  I  or  any  other  series  should  not  be 
counted  if  they  were  vitiated  by  incorrect  performance 

of  the  experiment. 

TABLE  VII 

In  series  I,   correct  associations 3 

by  primacy i 

by  recency i 

miscellaneous i 

In  series  II,  correct  associations 2 

by  recency i 

by  intensity i ,  etc. 

Total  possible  associations  by  primacy 10 

"  "  "  "  frequency 5 

"  intensity 5 

**  "  "  "  recency 10 

"  "  "  miscellaneous 65 


ASSOCIATION  113 

Percentage  of  correct  associations  made  in  each  case: 

by  primacy,       5  out  of  10  possible  ones 50% 

by  frequency,    3  out  of    5  possible  ones 60% 

by  intensity,      4  out  of    5  possible  ones 80% 

by  recency,        4  out  of  10  possible  ones 40% 

miscellaneous,  14  out  of  65  possible  ones 21% 


I 
2 
3 

4 
5 
6 

7 
8. 

9 
10, 

11 . 

12 . 
13 
14 
15 
16. 

17- 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21 . 
22. 

23- 
24. 

25- 
26. 

27. 
28. 


Average . 


TABLE  VIII 

JLE  OF 

RESULTS   OF 

TWENTY-EIGHT   PERSONS 

Primacy 

Frequency 

Intensity 

Recency     Mii 

scellanei 

5 

2 

I 

7 

12 

6 

3 

I 

4 

22 

10 

I 

0 

4 

21 

0 

I 

2 

3 

13 

8 

3 

2 

6 

9 

6 

0 

2 

2 

6 

8 

I 

4 

5 

18 

2 

0 

I 

6 

I 

4 

I 

I 

8 

14 

5 

I 

2 

4 

7 

4 

0 

0 

I 

27 

5 

I 

I 

3 

9 

6 

4 

3 

5 

23 

3 

2 

I 

6 

4 

3 

I 

2 

3 

17 

2 

3 

I 

3 

22 

6 

2 

3 

3 

15 

7 

0 

5 

6 

0 

6 

I 

3 

0 

16 

4 

3 

I 

2 

23 

6 

3 

0 

4 

28 

4 

I 

5 

6 

14 

3 

I 

3 

5 

12 

2 

I 

0 

2 

15 

7 

3 

3 

6 

29 

4 

0 

I 

5 

14 

8 

I 

I 

3 

27 

9 

2 

0 

0 

II 

5.1 

1.5 

1-75 

4.0 

153 

51% 

30% 

35% 

40% 

24% 

114    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Questions: 

1.  Give  several  illustrations  from  your  own  experience 
in  school  in  which  the  laws  of  association  were  applied 
correctly.    Several  in  which  they  were  applied  incorrectly. 

2.  How  would  the  laws  of  association  apply  to  the 
learning  of  correct  grammatical  forms?  Spelling?  Para- 
digms?   Dates  of  history? 

For  a  very  excellent  list  of  questions  and  specific  exer- 
cises, see  Thomdike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  pp.  1 12-123. 


CHAPTER  X 

APPERCEPTION 

Apperception  is  the  "  manner  in  which  we  receive  a 
thing  into  our  minds  "  (James).  It  includes  all  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  we  read  meaning  into  sense  impressions. 
One  person  calls  an  object  a  useless  stone;  another  calls 
it  a  fossil  of  the  carboniferous  age.  The  two  persons  re- 
ceive the  object  differently,  they  give  different  meanings 
to  the  same  sense  impressions.  Each  gives  that  particular 
interpretation  which  is  most  in  accord  with  his  particular 
mental  make-up. 

The  General  Problem  of  the  experiments  in  this  chapter 
is  to  illustrate  the  facts  of  apperception,  that  the  mind 
always  endeavors  to  give  some  meaning  to  every  incoming 
impression,  whether  new  or  old,  and  to  find  some  factors 
which  determine  what  meaning  shall  be  given  to  a  par- 
ticular impression. 

I.  To  demonstrate  the  meaning  tendency  of  the  mind. 

a.  Ttim  to  the  ten  ink  blots  and  write  into  your  note- 
book the  first  thing  that  each  one  suggests  or  represents 
to  you,  that  is,  the  first  meaning  which  naturally  comes 
to  you  as  you  see  each  one.  Do  not  study  them  or  try 
to  force  a  meaning  into  them. 

"5 


Il6   EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


2 


3 

Figs.  9,  10,  11. 


APPERCEPTION 


117 


4 


6 

Figs.  12,  13,  14. 


Il8    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


¥ 


0 


^iMl 


• 


10 

Pigs.  15,  16,  17,  18. 


APPERCEPTION  IIQ 

The  experiment  clearly  demonstrates  that  the  mind 
normally  attempts  to  interpret  every  sensation.  It  tries 
to  give  meaning  even  to  those  impressions  which  are 
entirely  without  meaning  and  unlike  anything  previously 
experienced.  The  ink  blots  are  in  themselves  without 
significance,  and  were  not  made  with  the  intention  of 
representing  anything.  The  meaning  you  give  to  each  is 
entirely  imposed  upon  it.  The  mind  is  persistent  in  giving 
meaning  to  its  sensations  because  meaningless  things  have 
no  value  or  significance.  The  mental  development  of  a 
child  is  largely  a  development  of  apperception. 

b.  Turn  to  the  ten  syllables  given  below.  Write  in 
your  note-book  what  each  one  reminds  you  of  or  suggests 
to  you. 

nof 

cem 

mig 

lor 

bax 

ges 

tal 

Ian 

fip 

rus 
Here  again  the  same  fact  is  illustrated.  The  mind 
gives  meaning  even  to  the  meaningless.  These  three- 
letter  syllables  do  not  constitute  words  or  sjmibols,  yet 
each  one  almost  without  exception  stirs  up  some  associa- 
tion or  other  and  forthwith  it  has  meaning. 


120    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

c.  As  soon  as  a  meaning  has  been  given  to  impressions 
they  at  once  become  definite  according  to  the  particular 
meaning  imposed.    Find  the  frogs  in  Fig.  19,  and  notice 


By  Permission  of  Century  Company. 

Fig.  19. 

that  as  soon  as  you  have  found  them  the  blur  springs  into 
definite  outline.  The  external  stimulus  is  moulded  accord- 
ing to  the  meaning  given. 

d.  In  the  developed  adult  mind  the  interpretative  ten- 
dency is  so  dominant  that  the  attention  is  primarily  upon 
the  meaning  aspect,  to  the  neglect  of  the  actual  sense 
stimuli  upon  which  the  meaning  is  based.  Only  the  slight- 
est hint  needs  to  be  given  to  make  the  mind  see  this  or 
that  particular  object.  The  mind,  as  it  were,  supplies 
the  necessary  material  to  fill  out  the  picture.  To  demon- 
strate this  point,  ask  an  assistant  to  set  the  book  at  a 
distance  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  from  you  to  show 
Fig.  21,  on  page  130.*    Do  not  look  it  up  yourself,  as  it  is 

*The  experiment  can  best  be  performed  by  the  entire  class 
simultaneously,  in  which  case  the  instructor  in  charge  should  place 


APPERCEPTION  121 

important  that  you  should  not  see  the  figure  at  close  range 
until  after  the  experiment.  Make  a  duplicate  freehand 
drawing  of  the  figure  thus  shown.  Put  in  all  the  lines  and 
details  that  you  see. 

Compare  your  drawing  with  the  figure  in  the  book. 
Explain  the  difference.  The  mind  reads  meaning  into 
sense  impressions,  supplies  details  and  makes  the  external 
stimulus  conform  to  the  apperceived  meaning.  Fig.  26, 
on  page  183,  is  a  typical  sketch  drawn  under  experimental 
conditions. 

2.  The  particular  meaning  given  to  a  group  of  sensa- 
tions is  determined  by  the  previous  experiences  of  the 
individual. 

a.  Compare  your  record  of  the  ink-blot  test  with  that  of 
one  other  person.  For  this  purpose  make  a  table  num- 
bering in  the  first  column  from  i  to  10,  in  the  second  col- 
umn place  opposite  each  number  the  meaning  you  gave 
to  each  blot,  and  in  the  third  the  meanings  given  by  the 
other  person. 

b.  Construct  a  similar  table  for  the  syllable  test.  In 
addition,  state  so  far  as  you  can  why  each  syllable  re- 
minds you  of  this  or  that  word  or  object.  Obtain  similar 
statements  from  the  person  whose  record  you  have. 
These  introspective  statements  show,  however  super- 
ficially, that  the  same  impressions  are  apperceived  differ- 
ently by  different  persons  because  of  different  past 
experiences. 

the  book  at  the  required  distance.     No  on^  in  the  class  should  be 
than  twenty  feet. 


122    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

c.  The  richness  of  the  meaning  or  completeness  of  the 
meaning  which  we  give  to  a  sense  impression  depends 
upon  the  number  and  richness  of  the  associations  con- 
nected with  that  sense  impression.  After  each  one  of  the 
following  words  write  the  names,  or  simply  a  check  mark, 
of  as  many  different  actual  situations  or  particular  ex- 
periences as  you  can  recall,  in  which  each  was  involved: 
I.  Midas;  2.  Flatiron  Building;  3.  Railroad;  4.  Tobog- 
gan; 5.  Poetry;  6.  Psychic  Medium;  7.  Skeeing;  8.  Tel- 
escope; 9.  The  "L";  10.  Grain  Binder.^  See  for 
illustration  Table  IX.  If  any  word  calls  up  many  asso- 
ciations, stop  with  ten. 

TABLE  IX 

1.  Midas     . 

2.  Flatiron  Building      .      .      . 

3.  Railroad *  .      . 

4.  Toboggan 

5.  Poetry 

6.  Psychic  Medium      .... 

7.  Skeeing 

8.  Telescope 

9.  The"L" 

10.  Grain  Binder 

Represent  your  results  in  a  carve.  Put  on  the  hori- 
zontal line  ttie  numbers  of  the  words  and  on  the  vertical 
lines  the  ntimbers  of  associations.    See  Fig.  20. 

d.  The  nature  of  our  past  experiences  and  associations, 
then,  determines  how  we  shall  interpret  and  react  to 

*  Of  course  very  familiar  concepts  are  bound  up  with  such  a 
wealth  of  associations  that  many  are  beyond  recall  and  yet  con- 
tribute to  the  significance  of  the  concept.  The  words  chosen  for  the 
text  include  some  very  familiar  concepts  and  some  very  unfamiliar. 


APPERCEPTION  1 23 

present  stimuli.  This  entire  system  or  range  of  acquired 
experiences  is  in  general  equivalent  to  the  range  of  in- 
formation which  a  given  individual  possesses.  The  total 
bulk  of  one's  information  or  experience  is  sometimes  called 
the  "  apperceptive  mass."  The  Australian  bushmen  call 
a  book  "  mussel  "  because  it  opens  and  shuts  Hke  a  shell- 
fish. Their  range  of  information  did  not  include  expe- 
riences with  books. 


/     a    3    i-.S    6    7  6    9  JO 

Fig.  20. 

The  following  is  designed  as  an  information  test.* 

"  Below  are  100  words,  phrases,  or  abbreviations, 
largely  technical,  which  are  designed  to  test  the  range  of 
your  information.  Consider  each  one  careftdly,  and  place 
after  it  one  of  these  foiu*  marks: 

"  (i)  the  mark  D  if  you  could  define  it  as  exactly  as 
words  are  ordinarily  defined  in  the  dictionary. 

"  (2)  the  mark  E  if  you  could  explain  it  well  enough  to 
give  some  idea  of  its  meaning  to  one  who  is  not  familiar 
with  it,  though  you  could  not  give  an  exact  definition 
that  would  satisfy  an  expert. 

*  From  Whipple,  Psych.  Rev.  16,  1900,  347-351. 


124    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

"  (3)  the  mark  F  if  the  word  is  merely  roughly  familiar, 
so  that  you  have  only  an  indefinite  idea  of  its  meaning 
and  could  not  use  it  intelligently. 

'*  (4)  the  mark  N  if  the  word  is  entirely  new  and 
unknown  to  you. 


ageratum' 

cleistogamous 

^infusoria 

•  puer 

amphioxus  - 

"•  cosmogony 

"^intaglio 

•pyramidal  tract 

^  amphora  n 

^  cotangent 

^  Kepler's  law 

•quadratics 

annealed  ^ 

dibble 

^kilogram 

■Rococo 

'  Anthony  Wayne  dietetics 

^  kinesthetic 

SR.  S.  V.  P. 

"*  apocalypse 

Mryad 

^kinetic 

'scherzo 

architrave 

^electrolysis 

"Les  Mis^rables 

semaphore 

V  aujourdhui 

^Elohim 

4inotype 

simony 

Babcock  test 

Nentr^e 

>logos 

^  spoils  system 

base-hit 

^Eocene 

luflE 

-Stoicism 

*•  Bernard  Shaw 

Euclid 

'Malthus'  law 

^  synecdoche 

Bokhara 

f-64 

*^metacarpal 

■testudo 

■"Braille 

vf.O.b. 

midiron 

'^tort 

'c^ll-loan 

gambit 

-Millet 

trephine 

-calorie 

gasket 

•  mitosis 

*  triangulation 

x:antilever 

^  glycogen 

morgen 

trilobite 

Caedmon 

gneiss 

"nada 

triple-expansion 

-catalepsy 

golden  section 

natural  selection  undistributed 

^  cephalic  index 

^guimpe 

^noi 

"Utopia    [middle 

♦  ceramics 

^hedonism 

^   ohm 

vantage-in 

chamfer 

hemiptera 

X  parallax 

way-bill 

Chartism 

homiletics 

peneplain 

Weismannism 

"  chlorine 

^  hydraulic  press 

;  "^Pestalozzi 

wigwag 

^  chromosome 

•impetigo 

^Polonius 

"^  X-Ray 

"clearing-house 

•  impressionism 

-pomology 

"*  Zionism 

Results,    a.  Count  the  number  of  each  class. 

b.  State  the  meaning  briefly  of  all  the  words  you 
marked  F  which  are  also  marked  F  by  one  other  person 
in  the  class.    Make  a  comparative  table. 


APPERCEPTION  12^ 

3.  The  particular  meaning  given  to  a  group  of  sensa- 
tions is  determined  not  only  by  the  general  mass  of 
previous  experiences  but  also  by  the  particular  system 
of  past  associations  dominant  in  the  mind  at  the  time, 
that  is,  the  meaning  is  determined  by  the  present  setting 
of  the  mind. 

a.  Turn  to  the  following  ten  lists  of  skeleton  words. 
Fill  in  the  missing  letters  to  make  words.  The  number 
and  the  position  of  the  letters  to  be  supplied  are  indicated 
by  the  dashes.  Take  the  groups  in  the  order  in  which  they 
are  numbered.  Work  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  record 
the  time  required  for  each  group.  If  a  skeleton  does  not 
suggest  the  missing  letters  within  a  reasonably  short  time, 
say  twenty  to  thirty  seconds,  leave  it  blank. 


I  II 

The  following  are  miscel-        The  following  are  names 


aneous  nouns. 

of  articles  of  dress, 

I.  P*-ier 

I.  Gl^v^ 

2.  N-m- 

2.  ^t 

3.  H-b-t 

3.  T^e 

4.  S-c-  -1 

4.  P-n 

5.  V-l-e 

5.  c-^-^ 

6.  P-n 

6.C-(Hl-^r 

7.  B-  -k 

7.  B^-^t^n 

8.  St-e-t 

8.^Letch-^C.f 

9.  -o-se 

9.  Sh^ 

10.  Gl-s- 

10.  C-^  ^f 

126    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


III 

The  following  are  names  of 
household  furnishings. 

1.  C-a-r 

2.  Lr-m- 

3.  B-d 

4.  R--k-r 

5.  T-b-  - 

6.  C-  -t-in 

7.  D — ss-r 

8.  P-ct-re 

9.  D-  -k 
10.  St~v- 


IV 

The  following  are  names  of 
famihar  fruits. 

1.  A--le 

2.  C-e — ^y 

3.  0-a-g- 

4.  P1-- 

5.  L ^n 

6.  B--a-a 

7.  -pr--ot 

8.  P-a-h 

9.  Gr-p- 
10.  P--r 


VI 


The  following  are  names  of 

The  following  are  miscel- 

well-known American 

laneous  nouns. 

authors. 

I.  E — ^rs-n 

I.  Fl-o- 

2.  L-we — 

2.  T-e- 

3.  H--m-s 

3.  W~te- 

4.  R-l-y 

4.  P-n--l 

5.  B--a-t 

5.  N-m--r 

6.  W-i-  -i-r 

6.  K-  -f- 

7.  C--P-T 

7.  R-v-r 

8.  P-- 

8.  W-g-  - 

9.  I-v-n- 

9.  Sq    -T- 

10.  V-  -D-k- 

10.  -n-m-1 

APPERCEPTION 


127 


VII 

The  following  are  names  of 

pieces  of  American 

money. 

1.  F^nn^ 

2.  N-c-  -1 

3.  C-  -t 

4.  Q-a-t-r 

5.  B--1 

6.  D-m- 

7.  -o-l-r 

8.  S-lv-r 

9.  C-  -p-r 
10.  G-ld 


VIII 

The  following  are  names  of 

familiar  domestic 

animals. 

1.  -o-se 

2.  d-g 

3.  C-w 

4.  C--f 

5.  S-  -ep 

6.  -at 

7.  H-g 

8.  Chic 

9.  D--k 
10.  T--k-y 


IX 

The  following  are  names  of 
university  studies. 

1.  F-e-c- 

2.  L ^n 

3.  H-s-or- 

4.  -th-cs 

5.  B-t-n- 

6.  G-rm — 

7.  E-g-  -s- 

8.  -n-t-my 

9.  P — s-cs 
10.  Ge-l-g- 


The  following  are  names  of 
American  cities. 

1.  B--t-n 

2.  N-w — ^r- 

3.  Se--tl- 

4.  Chic 

5.  St  -o — s 

6.  D-n--r 

7.  0--h- 

8.  P-rt--nd 

9.  B--f--o 
10.  -Ib-n- 


128    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Find  the  average  time  required  to  do  Groups  I  and  VI 
and  the  average  time  for  the  other  eight  groups.  How  do 
they  compare?    Explain  the  difference. 

In  each  group,  except  I  and  VI,  a  specific  system  of 
associations  is  made  prominent  at  the  outset;  that  is, 
the  mind  is  "  set  "  in  a  specific  way,  with  the  result  that 
(a)  the  meanings  of  the  skeletons  arise  much  more  rapidly 
and  (b)  they  are  in  accord  with  the  particular  set  of 
associations  present.  This  point  is  demonstrated  by  the 
fact  that  twenty-two  skeletons  are  alike.  Yet  in  each 
group  a  different  meaning  arises  according  to  the  set  of 
the  mind.  If  you  noticed  during  the  experiment  that 
any  skeleton  was  like  one  you  had  in  a  preceding  group, 
indicate  which  ones. 

The  ones  alike  are  I  6  and  II  4 

I  9  and  VIII  I 

II  2  and  VIII  6 
II  5  and  VII  3 
II  6  and  VII  7 
II  7  and  IX  I 

II  10  and  VIII  4 

III  9  and  VIII  9 

IV  5  and  IX  2 

V  7  and  VII  9 
VIII  8  and  X  4. 


APPERCEPTION 


129 


TABLE  X 


RECORDS  FROM  TWENTY-EIGHT   PERSONS 


Av.  of  Groups     Av.  of  the 
I  and  VI        other  groups 


I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26.  .  .  .. 

^1 

28 

Average . 


I'   55" 

23" 

35" 

22" 

55" 

24" 

28" 

24" 

30" 

8" 

2'  35" 

I'    18" 

I'   10" 

42" 

2'  30" 

51" 

46" 

30" 

52" 

28" 

2'  30" 

I'      \" 

43" 

30" 

I'  45" 

I'   20" 

I'  22" 

44" 

32" 

24" 

37" 

25" 

2'  45" 

I'     8" 

32" 

28" 

I'    10'' 

40" 

55" 

25" 

I'   52" 

1'    15" 

2'  30'' 

40" 

40" 

20'' 

I'  25" 

36" 

I'   15" 

16" 

27" 

14" 

55" 

32" 

55" 

26" 

I'  15' 


36' 


b.  Look  for  just  an  instant,  not  more  than  a  second,  at 
Fig.  22.    Record  what  it  represents.    Then  look  at  it  for 


130   EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

several  seconds  and  again  record  what  you  observe. 
Explain  the  results. 
c.  What  is  the  "  meaning  "  or  suggestion  of  the  follow- 


n 


X 


I 


L 


(13 


ing  phrases?     It  may  be  necessary  to  read  each  one 
several  times. 


APPERCEPTION 


131 


(i)  Pas  de  lieu  Rh6ne  que  nous. 

(2)  Von  der  Vottei  mit  is. 

(3)  Gui  n'a  beau  dit,  qui  sabot  dit,  nid  a  beau  dit  elle. 

(4)  Mein  die  Uhr  onbiss  Niiss'. 

Both  of  these  experiments  demonstrate  in  different 
fields  the  fact  that  the  meaning  read  into  sensations 
depends  upon  the  set  of  the  mind.    In  case  of  Fig.  22  the 


Cctcichnci  von  R.  CndflM 
In  FrtBkfart  a.  M. 


Fig.  22. 
meaning  suggested  is  "  brain,"  and  the  outlines  and  con- 
volutions are  seen  in  accordance  with  it.  In  case  of  the 
foreign  phrases  the  set  of  the  mind  is  either  "  French  " 
or  *'  German,"  and  you  endeavor  to  give  them  meaning 
accordingly.  The  dominant  set  of  associations  makes  it 
difficult  to  see  or  rather  to  hear  the  meaning  of  these 
"  English  "  so\mds.^ 

^  If  you  have  failed  to  discover  the  meanings  you  will  now  notice 
that  the  sounds  are  identical,  or  nearly  so  with 

1.  Paddle  your  own  canoe. 

2.  Wonder  what  time  it  is. 

3.  Gin  a  body  kiss  a  body  need  a  body  tell. 

4.  Mind  your  own  business. 


132    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

The  principles  of  apperception  have  a  very  important 
application  to  teaching.  First,  link  new  information  to 
the  information,  experiences,  and  associations  which  the 
learner  already  possesses.  Second,  prepare  the  proper 
apperceptive  basis  in  the  pupil  for  the  reception  of  new 
material. 

For  practical  exercises  and  appHcations  to  specific 
problems,  see  Thomdike,  Principles  of  Teaching,  pp. 
44-50;  O'Shea,  Education  as  Adjustment,  Chapter  12. 


CHAPTER  XI 
ATTENTION 

Two  of  the  main  problems  of  attention  with  which  the 
teacher  is  constantly  concerned  are:  How  to  secure  the 
attention  of  pupils  to  the  work  in  hand,  and  how  to  hold 
the  attention  after  it  has  been  secured.  What  are  the 
laws  of  attracting  attention,  and  what  are  the  laws  of 
sustaining  attention? 

I.  Laws  of  Attracting  Attention.  These  will  be  stated 
after  the  experiments  have  been  performed.  Proceed 
therefore  at  once  to  make  the  following  tests. 

The  Material  to  be  used  consists  of  groups  of  words. 
Each  group  is  to  be  seen  for  only  five  seconds.  To  insure 
this  condition,  the  material  for  each  experiment  is  printed 
on  a  separate  leaf,  so  that  only  one  group  can  be  seen  at 
a  time.  The  interval  of  five  seconds  is  to  be  indicated  by 
your  partner,  who  will  tap  on  the  table  at  the  beginning 
and  at  the  end  of  the  interval.  Have  the  book  before  you 
and  be  ready  to  turn  the  leaf  at  the  first  tap.  Look  at 
the  words  until  your  partner  taps  again.  Then  turn  the 
book  over  and  write  into  your  note-book  all  the  words 
that  you  remember  having  noticed.     Designate  them  as 

133 


134    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

Group  I.    Do  not  attempt  to  memorize  any  of  the  words, 
but  rather  look  passively  at  the  whole  group. 

In  this  manner  continue  the  experiment  with  the  re- 
maining eight  groups.  Have  an  intermission  of  at  least 
one  minute  between  the  successive  groups. 


ATTENTION  ^3^ 


GROUP  I 

term  cast  hang     look      WAIT 

down  keep  CARE  draw     vein 

sort  grow  bind      THAN  face 

cold  PLAN  come     view      mark 

suit  can  WORK  poor      evil 


ATTENTION  137 


GROUP  I 

I 

bite 

STAY   give 

rise        have 

stop 

take      jerk 

PICK    snap 

play 

wake     TRIM 

this        from 

COAT 

pull        pain 

bold       push 

pour 

hill        busy 

BLOW  leaf 

ATTENTION  139 


GROUP  III 

blue        pray      beat       here  want 

that        pick       rude      time  your 

zeal         damp     turn      just  with 

tilt  fall         iron       once  yard 

more      step       thou      lead  find 


ATTENTION  14I 


GROUP  IV 

heir 

clad 

make 

live 

fold 

tell 

rear 

reef 

finn 

wing 

fire 

hand 

rock 

will 

yam 

form 

mind 

walk 

gold 

fear 

part 

like 

pass 

moat 

room 

ATTENTION  143 


GROUP  V 

ayaxv 

vqiu 

avev 

send 

VIKYJ 

o/i,a>s 

pure 

KVIOV 

^oyvrj 

aAAa 

^pv 

Xvmj 

lark 

Kayo) 

X"P 

mule 

a7ra4 

WTtS 

^ovs 

yui/17 

VTrep 

Xt(ov 

iTTfJV 

milk 

axpt 

ATTENTION  145 


GROUP  VI 

CTira 

waU 

<i>r]iiL 

€<opa 

SlKTfJ 

aim 

v8a)/5 

TTJKUi 

laro)^ 

mode 

ttXco) 

ao-TV 

lark 

Xjeyoy 

apfia 

OTTft)? 

yevo) 

)8ios 

moon 

fievo) 

o/i,</>t 

land 

o-ows 

avrjp 

o-Trao) 

ATTENTION  ^47 


GROUP  VII 
fare        good      hard      gray      home 


ATTENTION  149 


GROUP  VIII 

what      hate      shot       gone      roll 
seem      hope      gate       mean     hair 


ATTENTION  151 


GROUP  IX 

head       wood     hear       each  lime 

gush       when     calf        some  chin 

horn       comb     song      free  less 

boat       hole       long       knot  cure 

slow       coal       sick       lend  crow 


ATTENTION  153 

Results.    The  four  laws  demonstrated  above  are: 

a.  The  law  of  intensity.  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
amount  and  degree  of  attention  depends  upon  the  inten- 
sity of  the  stimulus.  Groups  I  and  II  contain  each 
twenty-five  words,  of  which  five  are  printed  in  large 
capitals.  These  will  arouse  more  intense  sensations  and 
consequently  are  more  apt  to  be  noticed. 

b.  The  law  of  contrast.  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
amount  and  degree  of  attention  depends  upon  the  con- 
trast of  the  stimulus  with  other  stimuli.  Groups  III  and 
IV  contain  each  twenty-five  words,  of  which  five  are 
printed  in  italics. 

c.  The  law  of  clearness  or  comprehension.  Other  things 
being  equal,  the  amount  and  degree  of  attention  depends 
upon  the  ease  of  apprehending  the  impressions,  or  upon 
the  clearness  of  the  impressions.  Groups  V  and  VI  are 
composed  of  Greek  words  with  the  exception  of  five 
English  words  in  each  group.  Because  of  the  familiar 
or  clear  meaning  of  the  English  as  compared  with  the 
Greek  words,  they  are  more  apt  to  be  noticed  and  remem- 
bered. We  attend  with  difficulty  to  the  meaningless  or 
to  the  absolutely  new. 

d.  The  law  of  counter  attractions.  Other  things  being 
equal,  the  amount  and  degree  of  attention  depends  upon 
the  absence  of  counter  attractions.  That  is,  the  smaller 
the  number  of  objects  is,  the  greater  are  the  chances 
that  a  given  object  will  attract  attention.  In  Group  VII 
there  are  only  five  words,  all  of  which  will  ordinarily  be 
noticed  in  the  allotted  time.     In  Group  VIII  there  are 


154   EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

ten  words,  of  which  usually  not  more  than  five  will  attract 
sufficient  attention  to  be  remembered.  Hence  the  chances 
are  about  one  in  two  that  any  particiilar  word  will  be 
noticed.  In  Group  IX,  which  contains  twenty-five  words, 
the  chances  are  one  in  five  that  any  given  word  will  be 
noticed. 

Construct  a  table  like  the  following  one: 

TABLE  XI 
Intensity.    Groups  I  and  II 

8  of  the  lo  large  words  were  noticed^ =80% 

4  of  the  40  miscellaneous  words  were  noticed =  10% 

Contrast.     Groups  III  and  IV 

9  of  the  10  words  printed  in  italics  were  noticed  .  .  =90% 
2  of  the  40  miscellaneous  words  were  noticed =   5% 

Clearness.     Groups  V  and  VI 

6  of  the  10  English  words  were  noticed =   60% 

I  of  the  40  Greek  words  was  remembered =  2>^  % 

Counter  attraction.    Groups  VII,  VIII,  and  IX 

4  of  the  5  in  Group  VII  were  noticed =  80% 

5  of  the  10  in  Group  VIII  were  noticed =  50% 

4  of  the  25  in  Group  IX  were  noticed =»=  16% 

^  The  word  noticed  in  each  case  means  of  course  that  the  words 
attracted  sufficient  attention  to  be  remembered  until  they  could  be 
written  down. 


I. 

2. 

3- 
4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 
lo. 
II. 

12. 


ATTENTION 

15s 

TABLE  XII 

RECORDS  OF  TWELVE  PERSONS 

Clear- 

Miscella- 

Intensity 

Contrast 

ness 

neous 

Counter  attraction 

Groups 
I.  II 

Groups 
III.  IV 

Groups 
V.VI 

Groups 
ItoVI 

Groups  VII.  VII] 

.IX 

50% 

60% 

80% 

7.5% 

100% 

50% 

12% 

50 

30 

100 

7-5 

100 

70 

24 

0 

80 

90 

7-5 

100 

60 

24 

50 

100 

60 

7-5 

100 

60 

20 

30 

60 

60 

4. 

80 

40 

16 

60 

100 

100 

4- 

100 

50 

20 

20 

30 

70 

12. 

100 

40 

20 

40 

60 

70 

6. 

100 

30 

20 

60 

90 

70 

7-5 

100 

40 

20 

10 

30 

70 

12. 

100 

50 

16 

20 

70 

100 

14. 

100 

30 

16 

70 

70 

90 

7.5 

100 

40 

12 

Average...       38.5      65 


80 


8.1 


98.5      46.7       i8-5 


2.  The  Fluctuation  or  Shifting  of  the  Attention.    Our 

attention  shifts  continuously  from  moment  to  moment. 
Even  with  great  effort  it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  attention 
focussed  for  more  than  a  few  seconds  upon  the  same  idea 
or  object. 

a.  Look  steadily  at  the  central  line  in  the  "  book  '* 
figure  below.  You  will  notice  that  the  figure  "  flops  "  in 
and  out.  Part  of  the  time  it  looks  like  a  book  open 
toward  you,  and  part  of  the  time  like  a  book  with  its 
back  toward  you.  Make  a  two  minutes'  record  of  these 
alternations.  At  the  signal  **  now  "  from  yoiu*  partner, 
look  steadily  at  the  figure.  Do  not  change  your  point  of 
fixation.  When  the  figure  appears  like  a  book  open  toward 


1S6   EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

you  say  "  in."  At  the  moment  it  shifts  over  so  that  the 
back  of  the  "  book  "  stands  out  toward  you  say  "  out," 
and  so  on  for  two  minutes.     Do  not  try  to  make  the  fig- 


FiG.  23. 


ure  change,  but  allow  the  alternations  to  occtir  at  their 
natural  rate.  Your  partner  follows  the  second-hand  of 
his  watch  and  records  the  position  of  the  hand  each  time 
you  say  "  in  "  or  "  out."  The  record  will  be  similar  to 
the  following  one: 


In.. 
Out 


15     23     30    38    47     57      5     14 
19     26     35     42     50       I     10  etc. 


Compute  the  average  length  of  the  "  in  "  and  of  the 
"  out  "  periods  separately. 


ATTENTION  1 57 

TABLE  XIII 

RECORDS  OF  TWELVE  PERSONS,  SHOWING  THE  AVERAGE  DURATION  OF 
THE    "in"   AND   "OUT"   PERIODS 

"  In  "  periods    * '  Out ' '  periods 

1 4-4"  7.6" 

2 5.1"  5.7" 

3   .      8.2"  6.5" 

4 3.0"  3.0" 

5 3.2"  3-9" 

6 5.2"  4.8" 

7 3.0"  37" 

8 6.9"  53" 

9  2.0"  2.4" 

10 5.0"  7.4" 

II 3.2"  35" 

12 4.0"  4  2" 

Average ' 44"  4-8" 

b.  (i)  Look  at  the  figure  below  for  two  minutes  and 
notice  that  your  attention  periodically  wanders  off  to 
something  else.    As  soon  as  you  catch  your  attention  off 


Fig.  24. 

the  figure,  bring  it  back.  Call  out  **  now  "  each  time  you 
have  to  force  your  attention  back  to  the  figure.  Yotir 
partner  records  the  time  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
preceding  experiment.  Calculate  the  average  length  of 
the  periods. 

(2)  Look  at  the  same  figure  for  two  minutes,  but  this 


158    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

time  try  to  work  out  in  your  mind  the  following  questions 
about  the  figure:  How  long  is  the  diameter  of  the  circle? 
What  is  the  width  of  the  bar  and  of  the  circular  line? 
What  different  things  does  the  figure  represent  to  you, 
or  of  what  does  it  remind  you?  etc. 

If  your  attention  should  shift  to  anything  not  connected 
with  the  figure  call  out  ^'  now  "  and  your  partner  will 
keep  a  record  as  before.  How  does  this  test  compare  with 
the  preceding  record  with  regard  to  the  ntimber  of  times 
the  attention  shifted  away  from  the  problems  connected 
with  the  figure?^ 

3.  Concentration  of  Attention.  Turn  to  Fig.  23  and 
repeat  the  experiment  under  2  a.  Take  a  two  minutes' 
record  in  exactly  the  same  manner,  but  in  this  experiment 

TABLE  XIV 

RECORDS  OF  TEN  PERSONS,  SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  TIMES  THE 
ATTENTION  SHIFTED  FROM  THE  FIGURE  UNDER  THE  CONDITIONS 
OF  EXPERIMENl  b  (l)  AND  b  (2) 

b  (I)  b  (2) 

1 25  times  5  times 

2 15  10 

3 12  5 

4 4  o 

5 9  3 

6 7  3 

7 6  o 

8 7  4 

9 8  o 

10 6  9 

Average 9.9  times  3.9  times 

*  See  James,  Talks  to  Teachers,  loi. 


ATTENTION  1 59 


TABLE  XV 

RECORDS  OF  TEN  PERSONS,  GIVING  IN  THE  FIRST  COLUMN  THE  AVERAGE 
DURATION  OF  THE  "in"  PERIODS  WHEN  AN  EFFORT  WAS  MADE 
TO  HOLD  THE  FIGURE  AS  "iN,"  AND  IN  THE  SECOND  COLUMN 
THE  NORMAL  DURATION  OF  THE  "IN"  PERIODS  TAKEN  FROM 
TABLE   XIII 


2 

3 

4    •••• 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

Average 12.5"  4.5" 

attempt  to  hold  the  figure  in  the  "  in  "  position.  If  it 
shifts  into  the  "  out  "  position  try  to  get  it  back  as  soon 
as  possible  into  the  "  in  "  position.  Find  the  average 
duration  of  the  "  in  '*  periods.  How  do  they  compare  with 
the  normal  length  of  the  "  in  "  periods  as  foimd  in  experi- 
ment 2  a? 

Discuss  the  following  questions: 

1.  Give  an  illustration  from  school  work  of  securing 
attention  through  the  law  of  intensity,  through  the  law 
of  contrast,  through  the  law  of  clearness,  through  the 
law  of  counter  attraction. 

2.  Which  laws  are  most  suitable  as  permanent  means 
of  securing  attention? 


17. " 

4.4" 

18.  " 

5.1" 

16.7" 

8.2" 

9. " 

3.0- 

8.5" 

3.2" 

21.2" 

6.9" 

4.2" 

2.0'' 

20.     " 

5.0- 

5.9" 

3.2" 

4.6" 

4.    " 

l6o    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

3.  What  practical  applications  has  the  principle  in- 
volved in  experiment  b  (i)  and  (2)? 

For  further  practical  exercises  see  Thomdike,  Prin- 
ciples of  Teaching,  107-109;  O'Shea,  Dynamic  Factors 
in  Education,  24-25. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MEMORY 

r 

The  practical  problem  in  the  field  of  memory  is,  How 
may  we  memorize  or  learn  in  the  most  economic  manner? 
A  considerable  number  of  principles  of  economy  in  learn- 
ing have  been  established  by  extensive  investigations.  The 
experiments  that  follow  will  deal  with  only  a  few  of  these 
principles. 

I.  Learning  in  Parts  or  as  a  Whole.  Is  it  more  eco- 
nomical to  memorize  a  given  amount  of  material  piece- 
meal, or  as  an  entirety?  For  this  test  the  following  two 
selections  of  poetry  from  Lorenzo's  Laudi  Spirituali  are 
to  be  used. 

Memorize  selection  A  part  by  part,  making  such  divi- 
sions as  seem  convenient.  Consider  it  memorized  as  soon 
as  you  are  able  to  repeat  it  correctly  without  looking  at 
the  book.  Record  the  number  of  minutes  required.  In 
both  of  the  following  selections  work  as  intensively  as  you 
can  and  try  to  disregard  any  prejudice  that  you  may  have 
as  to  what  the  best  method  of  memorizing  is. 

i6i 


l62    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

SELECTION  A 

0  let  this  wretched  Hfe  within  me  die 
That  I  may  live  in  thee,  my  life  indeed; 

In  thee  alone,  where  dwells  eternity, 
While  hungry  multitudes  death's  hunger  feed. 

1  Hst  within,  and  hark!  Death's  stealthy  tread! 

I  look  to  thee,  and  nothing  then  is  dead. 
Then  eyes  may  see  a  light  invisible 
And  ears  may  hear  a  voice  without  a  sound. 

After  a  few  minutes'  rest,  memorize  selection  B  by  read- 
ing the  entire  selection  through  from  beginning  to  end 
each  time.  Continue  this  until  you  are  able  to  repeat  it 
without  consulting  the  text.  Work  with  maximimi  con- 
centration, as  in  the  first  selection. 

SELECTION  B 

When,  sweet  and  beauteous  Master,  on  that  day,  ■ 
Reviewing  all  my  loves  with  aching  heart, 

I  take  from  each  its  bitter  self  away, 
The  remnant  shall  be  thou,  their  better  part. 

This  perfect  sweetness  be  his  single  store 

Who  seeks  the  good;  this  faileth  nevermore. 

A  thirst  imquenchable  is  not  beguiled 

By  draught  on  draught  of  any  running  river. 

How  do  the  two  methods  compare?  The  greater 
economy  of  the  "  whole  "  method  does  not  always  appear 
in  shorter  amount  of  time  required  for  it,  but  often  in  the 
greater  permanence  which  is  indicated  by  the  shorter 


MEMORY  163 

time  necessary  to  relearn  material  acquired  by  the 
*'  whole  "  method.  To  demonstrate  this  point,  find  the 
time  necessary  to  relearn  the  two  selections  either  twenty- 
four  or  forty-eight  hours  later. 

TABLE  XVI 

RECORDS   OF   SIX   PERSONS 

Part  method     Whole  method 

1 3'  2'  15" 

2 3'  2'  45" 

3 / 5'  / 

4 5'  3'  42" 

5 f  50"  7'  30" 

6 5'  3' 

Average 4'  48"  4'  22" 

2.  The  Effect  of  Incorrect  Repetition.  The  problem  of 
the  next  experiment  is  to  determine  the  retarding  effect 
of  incorrect  repetitions  upon  the  speed  of  learning. 

Obtain  a  deck  of  ordinary  playing  cards.  Remove 
from  it  all  the  aces,  kings,  queens,  jacks,  and  tens,  leaving 
altogether  thirty-two  cards.  Take  eight  pieces  of  paper 
and  number  them  from  two  to  nine.  Place  these  on  the 
table  before  you  about  six  inches  apart,  in  irregular  order, 
in  the  form  of  a  semicircle.  Shuffle  the  cards  well.  Take 
them  into  your  left  hand  with  their  backs  turned  toward 
you.  Then  distribute  them  as  rapidly  as  you  can  into 
eight  piles  indicated  by  the  slips  of  paper.  That  is,  put 
all  the  fours  on  one  pile  beside  the  slip  bearing  that  num- 
ber, and  all  the  fives  on  one  pile,  etc.  Try  to  avoid  all 
mistakes.     If  you  discover  having  made  a  mistake,  do 


164    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

not  stop  to  correct  it,  as  you  would  lose  too  much  time 
on  account  of  it.  Record  the  exact  time  required  to  make 
the  distribution.  In  this  manner  make  ten  distributions. 
Then  have  your  partner  rearrange  the  eight  slips  of  paper 
in  a  different  order.  Before  doing  this,  write  down  the 
order  in  which  the  slips  are  placed.    Make  two  distribu- 

TABLE  XVII 

RECORDS  OF  THIRTEEN  PERSONS 


1 54  55 

2 49  45 

3 43  40 

4 43  40 

5 41  38 

6 43  41 

7 40  38 

8 38  39 

9 39  35 

10 36  37 

Rearranged  order 

II 60  52 

12 44  45 

Original  order 

13 48  43 

14 45  35 

15- . 
16.  . 
17.. 

18.  . 

19.  . 

20.  . 


40 
44 
39 
38 
38 
37 


3  4 

60  82 

58  68 
50  69 
55  60 
50  50 

54  55 

59  52 
50  47 
49  45 
..  45 

55  69 
55  60 

49  50 

..  46 

..  47 

..  48 

••  45 


5  6 

49  55 

42  55 

40  50 

38  48 

37  48 

33  42 

36  42 

30  38 

33  37 

32  35 


69  52 

69  44 

63  43 

55  40 

50  40 

43  38 

40  37 

40  36 

42  36 

40  37 


9  10  II 

69  60  70 

54  54  60 

54  51  54 

57  48  56 

52  44  47 

49  40  57 
54  43  56 
48  45  50 
56  43  50 

50  39  50 


12  13 

65  60 

60  58 

52  50 

50  55 

50  50 

44  54 
47  55 

45  59 
44  50 
44  49 


45  45  69  40  54  53  56  55  55 

40  45  55  37  52  54  57  55  55 

40  38  54  42  46  54  50  50  49 

34  37  40  38  ..  45  46  48  .. 

38  37  ••  36  ..  44  ..  47  •• 

32  35 38  ..  42  .. 


tions  according  to  this  new  arrangement.     Then  place 
the  slips  in  the  same  order  as  they  were  originally  and  make 


MEMORY  165 

several  distributions  until  you  shall  reach  the  speed  you 
had  attained  before  the  two  incorrect  distributions.  Be 
sure  that  the  cards  are  thoroughly  shuffled  before  each 
distribution. 

Make  a  table  of  your  results  similar  to  the  sample 
records  given  in  Table  XVII. 

3.  Pauses  in  Memorizing.  The  object  of  the  following 
test  is  to  determine  the  effect  of  a  short  pause  after  learn- 
ing. Use  the  following  lists  of  words.  Your  partner  will 
read  to  you  each  list  once,  reading  at  the  rate  of  one  word 
per  second.  Immediately  after  the  first  list  has  been 
read  turn  to  some  earlier  part  of  the  book  and  engage 
in  rapid  reading  for  thirty  seconds.  When  the  thirty 
seconds  are  over,  which  will  be  indicated  by  your  part- 
ner, write  down  as  many  words  of  the  list  read  to  you  as 
you  remember. 

After  about  two  minutes,  list  two  wiH  be  read  to  you. 
But  during  the  thirty  seconds  following  that,  you  are 
not  to  work,  but  to  allow  your  mind  to  rest  or  wander 
as  it  will.    However,  do  not  repeat  the  words  that  were 

1.  Poor,  bind,  draw,  look,  hang,  sort,  vein,  plan. 

2.  Evil,  mark,  wait,  face,  than,  view,  work,  come. 

3.  Call,  grow,  cast,  term,  down,  suit,  cold,  leaf. 

4.  Care,  bold,  trim,  take,  bite,  stop,  wake,  pain. 

5.  Blow,  busy,  coat,  pull,  pour,  stay,  jerk,  have. 

6.  Pick,  this,  rise,  snap,  give,  from,  more,  that. 

7.  Tilt,  step,  zeal,  fall,  thou,  damp,  iron,  find. 

8.  Lead,  blue,  turn,  once,  pray,  rude,  just,  yard. 


l66    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

read  to  you.  Then  write  down  all  the  words  you  remem- 
ber. 

In  like  manner  use  the  remaining  lists  of  words.  The 
odd-numbered  lists  are  to  be  followed  in  each  case  by 
rapid  reading  for  thirty  seconds,  and  the  even-nimibered 
lists  by  rest  periods  of  thirty  seconds. 

The  following  lists  are  to  be  used  upon  your  partner: 

1.  Here,  want,  your,  beat,  room,  gold,  time,  rock. 

2.  Rear,  moat,  walk,  hand,  tell,  heir,  pass,  mind. 

3.  Fire,  like,  part,  form,  will,  fear,  clad,  reef. 

4.  Make,  firm,  live,  yam,  wing,  fold,  good,  hard. 

5.  Home,  fare,  roll,  mean,  gone,  gray,  shot,  hope. 

6.  What,  seem,  hate,  crow,  lime,  chin,  cure,  lend. 

7.  Knot,  free,  some,  each,  slow,  coal,  sick,  boat. 

8.  Long,  comb,  song,  less,  calf,  when,  wood,  dust. 

TABLE  XVIII 

RECORDS  OF  TEN  PERSONS,  SHOWING  THE  AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  WORDS 
REMEMBERED   PER   GROUP 

Pause  Pause 

Occupied  Unoccupied 

1 4-7  5-7 

2 4.8  6.0 

3 5.2  5-8 

4 3.8  4-2 

5 30  5-0 

6 3.0  4-3 

7 3-5  6.0 

8 40  5-2 

9 3-2  5.7 

10 2.3  5.3 

Average 3-5  5-3 


MEMORY  167 

Find  the  average  number  of  words  remembered  from 
the  odd-numbered  and  the  average  number  remembered 
from  the  even-numbered  Hsts. 

4.  Comprehension  and  System.  The  purpose  of  the 
next  two  tests  is  to  demonstrate  two  maxims  of  memory, 
(a)  Understand  what  you  wish  to  remember,  and  (b)  sys- 
tematize what  you  wish  to  remember. 

a.  Sense  versus  Nonsense  Material.  Things  understood 
clearly  are  remembered  more  readily.  To  show  this 
experimentally,  compare  the  length  of  time  required  to 
learn  ten  monosyllabic  nouns  with  the  time  required  to 
learn  ten  nonsense  syllables.  A  list  of  syllables  was 
assigned  for  memorizing  in  Chapter  VIII,  and  the  results 
of  this  test  may  be  used  for  comparison,  so  that  no  new 
list  needs  to  be  learned. 

Find  the  time  required  to  learn  the  following  list  of  ten 
words: 

spade 

moon 

fox 

com 

road 

town 

mink 

light 

sand 

knife 
Compare  the  time  of  this  with  the  time  needed  for  the 
first  Hst  of  syllables  in  Chapter  VIII.    The  sense  material 


1 68    EXPERIMENTS   IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

at  once  arouses  so  many  more  connections  that  it  is 
remembered  much  more  readily. 

TABLE  XIX 

RECORDS  OF  ELEVEN  PERSONS 

Syllables  Words 

I i'     8"  40" 

2 I'  50" 

3 2'  30"  42" 

4 I'  40"  I'     5" 

5 I'  45" 

6 I'  20"  55" 

7 3'  2' 

8 1'  30"  I' 

9 3'  I'  45" 

10 2'  30"  2' 

II 1'  20"  30" 

Average i'  49"  i'     i" 

b.  Find  the  time  required  to  commit  to  memory  the 
following  list  of  items.  Consider  them  learned  as  soon  as 
you  are  able  to  repeat,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
printed,  all  the  items,  and  their  equivalents  or  dates, 
without  consulting  the  text.  Learn  by  the  "  whole  " 
method,  that  is,  read  the  entire  list  each  time.  Work  as 
intensively  as  you  can. 


MEMORY 


169 


LIST  A 


Battle  of  Poitiers 

1356  A.  D. 

Katheko  = 

come  down 

Karphe  = 

hay 

782+465  = 

1247 

Invention  of  grain-binder 

1854  A.  D. 

624+832  = 

1456 

Arch  of  Constantine  built 

314  A.  D. 

Zulon  = 

timber 

901+477  = 

1378 

Battle  of  CoUine  Gate 

82  B.  C. 

758+546  = 

1304 

Invention  of  typewriter 

1855  A.  D. 

Harkos  = 

oath 

683+459  = 

1142 

Ochthe  = 

bluff 

After  a  few  minutes  of  rest  learn  the  following  list  of 
items.  Proceed  also  by  the  "  whole  "  method.  Record 
the  time.    Work  intensively. 


17©    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


LIST  B 

Five  historical  dates: 

Destruction  of  Corinth  146  b.  c. 

Battle  of  Strassburg  357  a.  d. 

Battle  of  Agincourt  141 5  a.  d. 

Invention  of  cream  separator  1879  a.  d. 
Invention  of  gasoline  engine    1875  a.  d. 

Five  Greek  words: 


Chalepos  = 

difficult 

Chrema  = 

wealth 

Phluaros  = 

nonsense 

Poleo  = 

to  sen 

Skeneo  = 

to  encamp 

Five  additions: 

593+854  = 

1447 

697+561  = 

1258 

729+637  = 

1366 

823+576  = 

1399 

945+363  = 

1308 

MEMORY  171 

Both  lists  contain  the  same  number  of  items  of  each 
class.  In  List  A  they  are  arranged  in  chance  order,  while 
in  List  B  they  are  systematized  and  grouped  according  to 
their  classes. 

Compare  the  time  of  learning  the  two  lists.  What  in- 
ference do  you  draw? 

TABLE  XX 

RECORDS   OF  TEN   PERSONS 

List  A  List  B 

I '• 12'  5' 

2 10'  5' 

3 19'  14' 

4 9'  / 

5 15'  12' 

6 15'  9'  40" 

7 II'  30"  6' 

8 14'  II' 

9 20'  14' 

10 15'  8'   10" 

Average 14'   3"  9'    ll" 

Discuss  the  following  questions: 

1.  Give  several  concrete  applications  of  the  principle 
that  the  "  whole  "  method  is  better  than  the  "  part  " 
method  in  learning. 

2.  Give  several  instances  in  which  the  detrimental 
effect  of  incorrect  repetitions  would  be  shown. 

3.  Give  one  illustration  in  the  study  of  history  and  one 
in  the  study  of  geography  of  the  principle  involved  in 
experiment  b. 

For  additional  exercises  consult  Thorndike,  Principles 
of  Teaching,  123-127. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
WORK  AND  FATIGUE 

The  object  of  the  experiment  in  this  chapter  is  to  demon- 
strate some  means  of  measuring  continuous  work,  and  to 
show  the  changes  and,  particularly,  the  effects  of  fatigue 
in  continuous  work. 

I.  Mental  Work  and  Fatigue.  In  order  to  measure 
mental  fatigue,  it  is  necessary  to  employ  a  form  of  test 
which  involves  the  lowest  minimum  of  muscular  and 
sensory  work.  Many  such  tests  have  the  objection  of 
involving  considerable  muscular  activity.  For  example, 
the  cancellation  test  is  largely  a  test  of  fatigue  of  eye 
muscles.  The  tapping  tests  likewise  are  tests  mostly  of 
muscular  fatigue. 

The  type  of  work  which  has  proved  most  successful 
is  some  form  of  arithmetical  calculation.  In  the  pres- 
ent experiment  the  work  will  consist  of  mental  addi- 
tion. 

Be  comfortably  seated  in  a  quiet  room.  Yoiir  partner 
will  announce  to  you  a  number  consisting  of  two  digits. 
Add  six  to  this  number,  then  add  seven  to  this  new  sum, 
and  then  eight  to  that,  then  nine,  and  then  again  six, 

172 


WORK    AND    FATIGUE  173 

seven,  eight,  and  nine  in  rotation,  etc.  When  the  sum 
has  reached  one  hundred  or  more  drop  the  extreme  left 
hand  digit  and  continue  with  the  two  remaining  digits. 
For  example,  if  the  number  given  you  were  80,  then  your 
consecutive  sums  would  be  80,  86,  93,  loi,  10,  16,  23,  31, 
etc.  Your  partner  will  announce  a  new  number  every 
thirty  seconds.  In  each  case  add  six,  seven,  eight,  and 
nine  in  rotation  to  the  sum  you  get  after  each  addition. 
In  order  to  understand  thoroughly  the  conditions  of  the 
experiment,  use  for  preliminary  trials  the  following  two 
numbers  which  will  not  occur  among  the  numbers  of  the 
regular  experiment,  40,  and  60. 

Close  your  eyes  and  add  just  as  rapidly  as  you  can. 
Your  partner  will  give  you  a  new  number  every  thirty 
seconds.  Speak  your  sums  aloud  so  that  your  partner 
can  hear  them  and  follow  the  columns  below,  which  give 
the  correct  succession  of  answers.  If  you  make  a  mistake 
he  will  write  your  nimiber  opposite  the  correct  one.  At 
the  end  of  every  thirty  seconds  he  will  make  a  check  mark 
to  indicate  how  many  numbers  you  had  added  and  at 
the  same  time  give  you  a  new  number  which  will  be  the 
one  at  the  top  of  the  next  column.  Lose  no  time  when  a 
new  number  is  announced,  but  start  at  once  with  it  and 
add  at  your  maximum  speed  until  another  number  is 
given  you,  and  so  on. 


174    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGY 


40 

60 

46 

66 

53 

73 

61 

81 

70 

90 

76 

96 

83 

103 

91 

II 

100 

20 

6 

26 

13 

33 

21 

41 

30 

50 

36 

56 

43 

63 

51 

71 

60 

80 

66 

86 

73 

93 

81 

lOI 

Now  begin  with  the  regular  experiment.  The  numbers 
to  be  announced  every  thirty  seconds  are  the  ones  at  the  top 
of  the  columns.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  you  should 
work  just  as  hard  and  as  fast  as  you  can.  The  entire  test 
will  take  thirty  minutes,  as  there  are  sixty  colimms.* 

The  class  should  be  divided  into  two  groups.  One 
should  work  continuously  for  thirty  minutes,  while  the 
other  should  take  a  rest  of  two  minutes  after  the  first 
fifteen  minutes  of  work. 

^The  numbers  that  are  used  for  "starters"  comprise  all  the 
numbers  between  o  and  100  which  will  not  produce  sums  whose  right 
hand  digit  is  o.  All  these  were  omitted  because  the  additions  in 
such  cases  are  decidedly  easier. 

The  columns  are  long  enough  so  that  no  one  is  apt  to  go  beyond  any 
one  in  the  allotted  thirty  seconds.  If  this  should  occur  your  partner 
should  make  a  check  mark  for  every  number  beyond  the  column. 


WORK    AND    FATIGUE  175 


28 

52 

33 

58 

26 

81 

46 

72 

68 

53 

34 

58 

39 

64 

32 

87 

52 

78 

74 

59 

41 

65 

46 

71 

39 

94 

59 

85 

81 

66 

49 

73 

54 

79 

47 

2 

67 

93 

89 

74 

58 

82 

63 

88 

56 

II 

76 

2 

98 

83 

64 

88 

69 

94 

62 

17 

82 

8 

4 

89 

71 

95 

76 

I 

69 

24 

89 

15 

II 

96 

79 

3 

84 

9 

11 

32 

97 

23 

19 

4 

88 

12 

93 

18 

86 

41 

6 

32 

28 

13 

94 

i8 

99 

24 

92 

47 

12 

38 

34 

19 

I 

25 

6 

31 

99 

54 

19 

45 

41 

26 

9 

33 

14 

39 

7 

62 

27 

53 

49 

34 

i8 

42 

23 

48 

16 

71 

36 

62 

58 

43 

24 

48 

29 

54 

22 

77 

42 

68 

64 

49 

31 

55 

36 

61 

29 

84 

49 

75 

71 

56 

39 

63 

44 

69 

37 

92 

57 

83 

79 

64 

48 

72 

53 

78 

46 

I 

66 

92 

88 

73 

54 

78 

59 

84 

52 

7 

72 

98 

94 

79 

6i 

85 

66 

91 

59 

14 

79 

5 

I 

86 

69 

93 

74 

99 

67 

22 

87 

13 

9 

94 

176    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


35 

II 

36 

62 

98 

43 

85 

51 

66 

22 

41 

17 

42 

68 

4 

49 

91 

57 

72 

28 

48 

24 

49 

75 

II 

56 

98 

64 

79 

35 

56 

32 

57 

83 

19 

64 

6 

72 

87 

43 

65 

41 

66 

92 

28 

73 

15 

81 

96 

52 

71 

47 

72 

98 

34 

79 

21 

87 

2 

58 

78 

54 

79 

5 

41 

86 

28 

94 

9 

65 

86 

62 

87 

13 

49 

94 

36 

2 

17 

73 

95 

71 

96 

22 

58 

3 

45 

II 

26 

82 

I 

77 

2 

28 

64 

9 

51 

17 

32 

88 

8 

84 

9 

35 

71 

16 

58 

24 

39 

95 

16 

92 

17 

43 

79 

24 

66 

32 

47 

3 

25 

I 

26 

52 

88 

33 

75 

41 

56 

12 

31 

7 

32 

58 

94 

39 

81 

47 

62 

18 

38 

14 

39 

65 

I 

46 

88 

54 

69 

25 

46 

22 

47 

73 

9 

54 

96 

62 

77 

33 

55 

31 

56 

82 

18 

63 

5 

71 

86 

42 

61 

37 

62 

88 

24 

69 

II 

77 

92 

48 

68 

44 

69 

95 

31 

76 

18 

84 

99 

55 

76 

52 

77 

3 

39 

84 

26 

92 

7 

63 

WORK   AND    FATIGUE  177 


38 

73 

25 

41 

76 

12 

78 

13 

95 

31 

44 

79 

31 

47 

82 

18 

84 

19 

I 

37 

51 

86 

38 

54 

89 

25 

91 

26 

8 

44 

59 

94 

46 

62 

97 

33 

99 

34 

16 

52 

68 

3 

55 

71 

6 

42 

8 

43 

25 

61 

74 

9 

61 

77 

12 

48 

14 

49 

31 

67 

81 

16 

68 

84 

19 

55 

21 

56 

38 

74 

89 

24 

76 

92 

27 

63 

29 

64 

46 

82 

98 

33 

85 

I 

36 

72 

38 

73 

55 

91 

4 

39 

91 

7 

42 

78 

44 

79 

61 

97 

II 

46 

98 

14 

49 

85 

51 

86 

68 

4 

19 

54 

6 

22 

57 

93 

59 

94 

76 

12 

28 

63 

15 

31 

66 

2 

68 

3 

85 

21 

34 

69 

21 

37 

72 

8 

74 

9 

91 

27 

41 

76 

28 

44 

79 

15 

81 

16 

98 

34 

49 

84 

36 

52 

87 

23 

89 

24 

6 

42 

58 

93 

45 

61 

96 

32 

98 

33 

15 

51 

64 

99 

51 

67 

2 

38 

4 

39 

21 

57 

71 

6 

58 

74 

9 

45 

II 

46 

28 

64 

79 

14 

66 

82 

17 

53 

19 

54 

36 

72 

1 78    EXPERIMENTS   IN   EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


86 

92 

18 

63 

45 

91 

16 

82 

88 

23 

92 

98 

24 

69 

51 

97 

22 

88 

94 

29 

99 

5 

31 

76 

58 

4 

29 

95 

I 

36 

7 

13 

39 

84 

66 

12 

37 

3 

9 

44 

16 

22 

48 

93 

75 

21 

t6 

12 

18 

53 

22 

28 

54 

99 

81 

27 

52 

18 

24 

59 

29 

35 

61 

6 

88 

34 

59 

25 

31 

66 

37 

43 

69 

14 

96 

42 

67 

^3 

39 

74 

46 

52 

78 

23 

5 

51 

76 

42 

48 

83 

52 

58 

84 

29 

II 

57 

82 

48 

54 

89 

59 

65 

91 

36 

18 

64 

89 

55 

61 

96 

67 

73 

99 

44 

26 

72 

97 

63 

69 

4 

76 

82 

8 

53 

35 

81 

6 

72 

78 

13 

82 

88 

14 

59 

41 

87 

12 

78 

84 

19 

89 

95 

21 

66 

48 

94* 

19 

85 

91 

26 

97 

3 

29 

74 

56 

2 

27 

93 

99 

34 

6 

12 

38 

83 

65 

II 

36 

2 

8 

43 

12 

18 

44 

89 

71 

17 

42 

8 

-"4 

49 

19 

25 

51 

96 

78 

24 

.49 

15 

21 

56 

27 

33 

59 

4 

86 

32 

57 

23 

29 

64 

WORK   AND   FATIGUE  1 79 


75 

21 

96 

42 

48 

83 

55 

61 

56 

32 

8i 

27 

2 

48 

54 

89 

61 

67 

62 

38 

88 

34 

9 

55 

61 

96 

68 

74 

69 

45 

96 

42 

17 

63 

69 

4 

76 

82 

77 

53 

5 

51 

26 

72 

78 

13 

85 

91 

86 

62 

II 

57 

32 

78 

84 

19 

91 

97 

92 

68 

l8 

64 

39 

85 

91 

26 

98 

4 

99 

75 

26 

72 

47 

93 

99 

34 

6 

12 

7 

83 

35 

81 

56 

2 

8 

43 

15 

21 

16 

92 

41 

87 

62 

8 

14 

49 

21 

27 

22 

98 

48 

94 

69 

15 

21 

56 

28 

34 

29 

5 

56 

2 

77 

23 

29 

64 

36 

42 

37 

13 

65 

II 

86 

32 

38 

73 

45 

51 

46 

22 

71 

17 

92 

38 

44 

79 

51 

57 

52 

28 

78 

24 

99 

45 

51 

86 

58 

64 

59 

35 

86 

32 

7 

53 

59 

94 

66 

72 

67 

43 

95 

41 

16 

62 

68 

3 

75 

81 

76 

52 

I 

47 

22 

68 

74 

9 

81 

87 

82 

58 

8 

54 

29 

75 

81 

16 

88 

94 

89 

65 

I6 

62 

37 

83 

89 

24 

96 

2 

97 

73 

l8o   EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 


93 

65 

71 

15 

28 

52 

33 

58 

26 

81 

99 

71 

77 

21 

34 

58 

39 

64 

32 

87 

6 

78 

84 

28 

41 

65 

46 

71 

39 

94 

14 

86 

92 

36 

49 

73 

54 

79 

47 

2 

23 

95 

I 

45 

58 

82 

63 

88 

56 

II 

29 

I 

7 

51 

64 

88 

69 

94 

62 

17 

36 

8 

14 

58 

71 

95 

76 

I 

69 

24 

44 

16 

22 

66 

79 

3 

84 

9 

77 

32 

53 

25 

31 

75 

88 

12 

93 

18 

86 

41 

59 

31 

37 

81 

94 

18 

99 

24 

92 

47 

66 

38 

44 

88 

I 

25 

6 

31 

99 

54 

74 

46 

52 

96 

9 

33 

14 

39 

7 

62 

83 

55 

61 

5 

18 

42 

23 

48 

16 

71 

89 

61 

67 

II 

24 

48 

29 

54 

22 

77 

96 

68 

74 

18 

31 

55 

36 

61 

29 

84 

4 

76 

82 

26 

39 

63 

44 

69 

37 

92 

13 

85 

91 

35 

48 

72 

53 

78 

46 

I 

19 

91 

97 

41 

54 

78 

59 

84 

52 

7 

26 

98 

4 

48 

61 

85 

66 

91 

59 

14 

34 

6 

12 

56 

69 

93 

74 

99 

67 

24 

WORK    AND    FATIGUE 


l8l 


Construct  a  curve,  similar  to  the  one  in  Fig.  25,  to  show 
the  number  of  additions  made  in  every  five  thirty-second 
period.  Also  indicate  whether  you  belong  to  the  group 
with  or  without  the  two  minutes'  rest. 

It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  select  an  activity  in  which 
there  is  no  increase  in  efficiency  due  to  practice.  The  type 
of  work  used  here  involves  a  relatively  small  amount  of 
practice.  It  is  obvious  that  the  two  factors  of  practice 
and  fatigue  which  appear  in  all  continuous  work  tend  to 
counteract  each  other.  The  former  tends  to  make  the 
curve  rise  while  the  latter  tends  to  make  it  drop.  The  two 
factors  may,  however,  be  separated.  If  we  allow  a  period 
of  rest  of  two  minutes  at  the  end  of  every  five  minutes  of 
work  we  reduce  the  effects  of  fatigue  and  get  the  natural 
rise  of  the  curve  due  to  practice.  The  upper  one  in  Fig.  25 
is  the  composite  curve  of  seven  persons  obtained  in  this 
manner.  The  lower  one  is  the  composite  of  ten  persons 
working  continuously.  The  former  may  be  called  the 
practice  curve  and  the  latter  the  fatigue  curve.     The 


Fig.  25. 


l82    EXPERIMENTS    IN    EDUCATIONAL   PSYCHOLOGY 

average  gain  of  the  seven  records  in  the  practice  curve, 
comparing  the  last  five  half -minute  periods  with  the  first 
five,  is  57  per  cent.,  while  the  average  gain  of  the  ten 
records  in  the  fatigue  curve  is  lo  per  cent. 

2.  Muscular  Work  and  Fatigue.  Perhaps  the  best 
apparatus  for  measuring  muscular  work  and  fatigue  is  the 
Mosso  ergograph,  which  is  to  be  used  in  this  experiment.^ 

Fasten  the  fingers,  hand,  and  forearm  of  the  right  arm 
firmly  in  the  arm  rest,  leaving  only  the  middle  finger  free. 
Attach  the  finger  cap  to  the  middle  finger  so  that  the  wire 
is  taut  when  the  finger  is  in  resting  position.  With  this 
finger  lift  the  weight  regularly  every  two  seconds.  Follow 
a  metronome  which  has  been  set  to  beat  sixty  times  per 
minute.  On  the  first  stroke  raise  the  weight  as  high  as 
you  can  and  on  the  second  lower  it  to  the  resting  position, 
then  on  the  next  stroke  lift  it  again,  etc.  Make  a  maxi- 
mimi  ptdl  each  time  and  continue  until  the  finger  is  com- 
pletely exhausted.  After  a  rest  of  thirty  seconds  make 
another  record  in  the  same  manner.  To  show  the  effect 
of  different  intervals  of  rest,  half  of  the  class  should  rest 
thirty  seconds  and  the  other  half  one  minute  between 
the  two  records. 

Dip  the  record  paper  in  shellac  and  hang  it  up  to  dry. 
After  it  is  thoroughly  dry  mount  it  upon  stiff  paper  and 
preserve  it  among  your  notes.    Compare  the  number  and 

*  This  experiment  will  require  careful  supervision  by  the  in- 
structor in  charge  to  see  that  the  apparatus  is  properly  set  up. 

The  ergograph  may  be  obtained  from  C.  H.  Stoelting  Co.,  121 
N.  Green  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


WORK  AND  FATIGUE 


183 


height  of  the  pulls  made  in  the  two  records.  Also  notice 
whether  there  are  any  rhythmic  variations  in  the  decrease 
of  strength. 


T 


HE  followingf  pasfes  contain  advertisements  of 

a  few  of  the   Macmillan  publications 

on  Psychologfy,  etc* 


PSYCHOLOGY 


A  Tazt-Book  of  Psychology.  By  Edward  Bradford  Titchener.  Part  I.  Pub- 
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A  Primer  of  Psychology.  By  Edward  Bradford  Titchener.  Published  in 
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Outlines  of  Psychology.  An  Elementary  Treatise,  with  Some  Practical  Applica- 
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Experimental  Psychology.  A  Manual  of  Laboratory  Practice.  By  Edward 
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Experimental  Psychology  and  Its  Bearing  upon  Culture.  By  George  Malcolm 
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The  Evolution  of  Mind.    By  Joseph  McCabe.    Published  in  London,  1910. 

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Clinical  Psychiatry.  A  Text-book  for  Students  and  Physicians.  Abstracted  and 
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in  New  York,  1909.  Cloth,  308  pp.,  $1.25  net 


Lectures  on  the  Elementary  Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention.  By  Edward 
Bradford  Titchener.    Published  in  New  York,  1908. 

Cloth,  404  pp.,  i2mo,  $1.40  net 

Instinct  and  Reason.  An  Essay  concerning  the  Relation  of  Instinct  to  Reason, 
with  Some  Special  Study  of  the  Nature  of  Religion.  By  Henry  Rutgers 
Marshall,  M.A.    Published  in  New  York,  1898. 

Cloth,  573  pp.,  8vo,  $3-50  net 

Structure  and  Growth  of  the  Mind.    By  W.  Mitchell.    Published  in  London,  1907. 

Cloth,  512  pp.,  8vo,  $2.60  net 

Why  the  Mind  has  a  Body.  By  C.  A.  Strong,  Professor  of  Psychology  in  Columbia 
University.    Published  in  New  York,  1903.    Reprinted,  1908. 

Cloth,  355  pp.,  8vo,  $2.50  net 

The  Essentials  of  Psychology.  By  W.  B.  Pillsbury,  Professor  of  Psychology, 
University  of  Michigan.  Cloth,  xi+362  pp.,  $1.25  net 


PUBLISHED   BY 

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By  W.  B.  PILLSBURY 
Attention 


Cloth,  8vo,  $2.75  net 


"It  is  a  clear,  conservative,  and  comprehensive  presentation  of  the  psychology 
of  attention  from  a  particular  point  of  view.  The  chief  business  of  psychology  is 
regarded  as  the  analysis  of  mind  into  sensations  as  its  structural  elements,  and  the 
determination  of  the  ways  in  which  these  elementary  states  function  in  combina- 
tion in  higher  mental  processes.  From  this  point  of  view  Professor  Pillsbury  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  Defining  attention  as  'an  increased  clearness  and  prom- 
inence of  some  one  idea,  sensation,  or  object,  whether  remembered  or  directly  given 
from  the  external  world,  so  that  for  the  time  it  is  made  to  constitute  the  most  im- 
portant feature  of  consciousness,'  he  finds  it  to  depend  not  upon  some  original 
conative  effort,  but  upon  two  general  factors,  'the  present  environment  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  entire  past  history  of  the  individual  on  the  other.'  It  is  the  excellence 
of  Professor  Pillsbury's  book  which  has  emphasized  for  us  the  difficulties  on  which 
we  have  commented.  It  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  psychological  literature." — 
N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 


"The  work  is  a  complete  and  admirable  handbook  to  a  well-rounded  treatment 
of  a  topic  of  prime  importance  to  the  student  of  psychology.  Naturally  the  topic 
is  60  central  to  the  group  of  problems  that  constitute  modern  psychology  that  the 
work  touches  upon  many  of  the  vital  issues  of  a  growing  science,  and  summarizes 
a  body  of  doctrine  indispensable  to  the  right  understanding  of  what  mental  pro- 
cesses are." — Science. 


"The  book  presents  a  minute  analysis  of  all  the  conscious  processes  to  which 
the  concept  of  attention  can  be  applied.  Professor  Pillsbury's  work  will  command 
instant  recognition." — Philosophical  Review. 


The  Euentials  of  Psychology.  Just  ready.  Cloth,  xi+362  pp.,  $1.25  net 


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By  JAMES  MARK  BALDWIN 

Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Hon.  D.Sc.  (Oxon.).  formerly  Professor  of  Psychology  at  Princeton 
and  Johns  Hopkins  Universities. 


Mental  Development  in  the  Child  and  in  the  Race.    Methods  and  Processes.    By 
James  Mark  Baldwin.  Cloth,  477  pp.,  8vo,  $2.25  net 


This  treatise  is  worked  out  on  the  theory  of  the  analogy  between  individual 
development  and  race  development.  The  subject-matter  is  divided  into  four 
parts.  The  Introduction  and  Part  I  are  devoted  to  the  statement  of  the  genetic 
problem,  with  reports  of  the  facts  of  infant  life  and  the  methods  of  investigating 
them.  They  also  give  researches  of  value  for  psychology  and  education. 
Part  II  states  in  general  terms  the  theory  of  adaptation.  Part  III  presents 
in  detail  a  genetic  view  of  the  progress  of  mental  development  in  its  great 
stages.  Memory,  Association,  Attention,  Thought,  Self -consciousness,  Volition. 
Part  IV  is  a  summary. 


Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations  in  Mental  Development.  A  Study  in  Social 
Psychology.  By  James  Mark  Baldwin,  Professor  in  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University.  Cloth,  606  pp.,  8vo,  $2.60  net 

The  present  essay  inquires  to  what  extent  the  principles  of  the  development 
of  the  individual  mind  apply  also  to  the  evolution  of  society. 


Development  and  Evolution.    Including  Psychophysical  Evolution,  Evolution  by 
Orthoplasy,  and  the  Theory  of  Genetic  Modes.    By  James  Mark  Baldwin. 

Cloth,  395  pp.,  8vo,  $2.60  net 

The  present  volume  takes  up  some  of  the  biological  problems  most  closely 
connected  with  psychological  ones  and  falling  under  the  general  scope  of  the 
genetic  method. 

Thought  and  Things.     A  Study  of  the  Development  and  Meaning  of  Thought, 
or  Genetic  Logic.    By  James  Mark  Baldwin.    PubHshed  in  London,  1908. 

Two  volumes.  Cloth,  8vo,  each,  $2.75  net 

Vol.  I,  Functional  Logic,  or  Genetic  Theory  of  Knowledge.  273  pp. 

Vol.  II,  Experimental  Logic,  or  Genetic  Theory  of  Thought.  436  pp. 


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